GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 



GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 



THE 



HISTORY, ORGANIZATION AND METHODS 



SECONDARY EDUCATION IN GERMANY 



JAMES E; EUSSELL, Ph.D. 

DEAN OF TEACHERS COLLEGE, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, NEW YORK 



NEW YORK 

LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. 

LONDON AND BOMBAY 
1899 



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Copyright, 1898, by 
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All rights reserved 
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PREFACE 

No apology is necessary, I assume, in presenting to the 
reading public a book on the secondary schools of Germany. 
For many years American educators have drawn professional 
inspiration from German sources, and more recently it has 
become apparent that German ideas are taking root in British 
soil. The history, organization and methods of the German 
elementary schools are generally well understood. We have 
grown familiar with the German universities and have prof- 
ited not a little from the relationship. But very little has 
been written in English on the secondary education which is 
the foundation of the German university training and the 
basis of all professional service in the Fatherland. Yet it is 
precisely in this sphere that German education can be studied 
to best advantage, and from it we have most to learn. 

The Regents of the University of the State of New York, at 
Convocation in July, 1893, appointed me their European 
Commissioner, and shortly afterwards I was made Special 
Agent of the Bureau of Education of the United States for 
the study and investigation of German schools. These keys 
unlocked all doors. During the two years which I spent in 
Germany I visited more than forty towns and cities in order 
personally to acquaint myself with school affairs. By force 
of circumstances my attention was directed chiefly to the 
schools of central and northern Germany. It happens, there- 
fore, that this study is concerned principally with the schools 



vi PREFACE 

of Prussia. But as Prussia is the larger part of the Empire 
both in area and population, and by far the most important 
state politically in the Confederation, it is doing no great in- 
justice to consider German schools from the Prussian stand- 
point. 

A foreign institution, however simple it appears to the 
casual observer, presents a wonderful complexity to the stu- 
dent. And the longer he studies the more complex it grows. 
After a six months^ residence abroad I was more confident of 
my ability to interpret the German school system than I am 
now, at the end of almost five years' continuous study and 
investigation. No one of my readers, I am sure, can be more 
dissatisfied than I am myself with this attempt to portray 
German ideals and German methods. The subject is too im- 
portant to be lightly treated and too extensive to be under- 
stood on short acquaintance. I trust, however, that my 
work may lighten the labours of other students in this field 
and prove to be of some practical worth to educators. 

Sermonizing on the basis of foreign customs is always of 
doubtful expediency. It is, indeed, questionable whether 
tliere is anything peculiar to the German theory and practice 
of teaching which is directly applicable to British or Amer- 
ican conditions. Each nation must educate itself in its own 
way and for its own ends. The chief value of foreign exam- 
ples consists in a rational understanding of the foreign way 
of adapting means to ends in the realization of great 
ideals. In this work, therefore, I have studiously resisted 
the temptation to point out the moral of every tale. The 
intelligent reader is capable of drawing his own conclusions ; 
he who reads merely to imitate needs no encouragement. 

It has been my aim to make each chapter as complete in it- 
self as possible, even at the risk of some repetition of impor- 
tant facts. References have been cited in foot-notes wherever 
it has seemed necessary to refer to original documents or au- 



PREFACE vii 

tliorities of consequence. At the end of each chapter I have 
appended a short bibliographical list, through which students 
may easily acquaint themselves with the literature of the 
various topics. In the space at my disposal it would mani- 
festly be impossible to cite all that has been written. Com- 
plete bibliographies will generally be found in the Hand-books 
and Encyclopedias mentioned in the lists of " general refer- 
ences." The chapters dealing with methods of instruction, 
the progress of school reform and the merits and defects of 
the German system, are obviously little dependent on books, 
except as they may serve to present other points of view. 

The study as a whole, while demanding some familiarity 
with books, is much more indebted to the personal factor. 
Without the acquaintance and assistance of many German 
educationists it would have remained imp'ossible for me to 
interpret the mass of material that has come to my hands. I 
cannot speak too highly of the many favours which were so 
freely extended to a very inquisitive and persistent stranger. 
The men whom I most wanted to consult were men fully 
occupied in places of great responsibility, but I could alwa5^s 
count on a generous allotment of their time. To some of 
these friends I am indebted not only for personal interviews, 
but also for searching criticisms of parts of my manuscript. 
It is not their fault if I have gone astray ; any errors of fact 
or judgment herein contained are my own. 

I desire especially to acknowledge my obligations to Oher- 
scJmhat Dr. Waetzoldt, of Magdeburg ; Professor Urtel, in- 
spector of schools in Weimar ; Drs. Muff and Quiehl, school 
directors in Cassel ; Drs. Reinhardt and Walter, school direc- 
tors in Frankfort-am-Main ; Dr. G. Richter, gymnasial rector 
in Jena ; Dr. Wernekke, director of the Recdgynuiasmm in 
Weimar; Dr. Fries, director of the Franchesche Stiftungen 
in Halle , Drs. Richter and Wychgram, directors of second- 
ary schools in Leipsic ; Dr. Hausknecht, school director in 



viii PREFACE 

Berlin ; and Professor Eein of the University of Jena, Pro- 
fessor Volkelt of Leipsic, Professor Paulsen of Berlin and 
Professor Schiller of Giessen. My thanks are due also to Mr. 
Edgar Kesner and Mr. W. M. Sliafer, former students of 
mine in the University of Colorado, for clerical assistance, 
and to my colleague, Mr. Walter H. Nichols, who has kindly 
prepared the index to this volume. 

J. E. R. 
New York, December, 1898. 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER I. 

PAGE 

Beginnings of German Schools, 1 



CHAPTER II. 
The Rise op Protestant Schools, 17 

CHAPTER III. 
The Period of Transition, 46 

CHAPTER IV. 

The Reconstruction of the Higher Schools, . . 76 

CHAPTER V. 

The Prussian School System, 108 

CHAPTER VI. 
The Higher Schools of Prussia, 121 

CHAPTER VII. 
Foundation and Maintenance of Higher Schools, . 138 



X CONTENTS 



CHAPTER VIII. X 

\ PAGE 

Rules, Regulations and Customs, 156 



CHAPTER IX. 
Examinations and Privileges, 175 

CHAPTER X. 
Student Life in the Higher Schools, . . . .194 

CHAPTER XI. 
Instruction in Religion, 213 

CHAPTER XII. 
Instruction in German, 227// 

CHAPTER XIII. 

Instruction in Greek and Latin, 245 

CHAPTER XIV. 
Instruction in the Modern Languages, . . .266 

CHAPTER XV. 

Instruction in History and Geography, . . .291 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Instruction in Mathematics, . , ... .812 



CONTENTS xi 

CHAPTER XVII. 

PAGE A 

Instruction in the Natural Sciences, .... 329 ^ 

CHAPTER XVIII. 
The Professional Training op Teachers, . . . 352 

CHAPTER XIX. 

Appointment, Promotion and Emoluments of Teach- 
ers, 370 

CHAPTER XX. 

Tendencies op School Reform, 388 

CHAPTER XXI. 

Merits and Defects op German Secondary Educa- 
tion, 406 

APPENDIX A. 
The Privileged Higher Schools op Germany in 1897, 425 

APPENDIX B. 

Attendance in Higher Schools op Prussia, . . 426 

APPENDIX C. 
System op Privileges, 427 

APPENDIX D. 

Salary Schedules 429 



xii CONTENTS 



APPENDIX E. 

PAGE 

Pensions of Teachers in the Higher Schools of 

Germany, ... 438 



APPENDIX R 
Extracts from the General Pension Laws of Prussia, 439 

APPENDIX G. 

Leading Educational Journals op Germany, . . 442 

Index, 445 



GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 



CHAPTER I 



BEGINNINGS OF GERMAN SCHOOLS 
718-1490 

The schools of Germany have ever been a means to the re- 
alization of the highest sj^iritual ideals of the German people. 
They were called into existence to support the 
tenets of the Christian faith, and npon the Educational 

^ ^ Ideals. 

union of Church and State they were taken over 
bodily into the service of the broader national life. Hence 
the clew to the systematic development of the German school 
system, at least until the present century, must be sought in 
the religious ideals of the successive periods as tempered by 
the prevailing social, economic and political influences. 

As long as the only classes in society were the nobility and 
the peasantry a practical training in the arts of gaining a 
livelihood, of making war and of diplomacy suf- 

n J r^ I Tn J 1 1 • Influence of the 

need. Custom, modmed only by new exigen- church, 
cies, afforded all the discipline needed for their 
mode of life. But a new era dawned with the introduction 
of Christianity in the eighth century. Columban and Boni- 
face began their missionary work from the west and sought 
to convert the pagan Germans.^ Monasteries and churches 



^ See the interesting and naive Life of St Columban^ by the Monk Jonas 
(University of Pennsylvania, Translations and Reprints from the Original 
Sources of European History, Vol. II., No. 7). Columban "feared lest, 
ensnared by the lusts of the vrorld, he should in vain have spent so much 

1 



2 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

were founded everywhere in order to make sure of the con- 
version of the whole country. About these institutions arose 
a third important class, the clergy. The source of inspiration 
for this class lay outside the semi-barbarous customs of the 
people among whom they lived. The nobles and peasants 
alike were ignorant of letters, and this made easy the intro- 
duction of the Latin language to which the ecclesiastics, as 
priests and missionaries of the Roman Church, were naturally 
partial. The progress of Christianity was conditioned very 
largely by the acceptance of the Latin language. For pur- 
poses of international communication, too, the ability to use 
the Latin tongue was indispensable. Here, then, were condi- 
tions demanding an innovation in existent educational meth- 
ods ; schools were founded to satisfy these demands. 

The Church alone recognized the need of schools, and 
throughout the Middle Ages all instruction proceeded from 
the clergy. The imparting of a new religion and a new cult- 
ure was the chief motive that actuated the German mission- 
aries. Monasteries and schools grew up together. The ear- 
liest schools were under the direction of monastic orders or 
bishops of the Church. Their aim was preparation for the 
priesthood. 

labour on grammar, rhetoric, geometry and the Holy Scriptures. . . , 
Having collected a band of brethren, St. Columban asked the prayers 
of all that he might be assisted in his coming journey and that he might 
have their pious aid. So he started out in the twentieth (or thirtieth) 
year of his life, and under the guidance of Christ went to the seashore 
with twelve companions. Here they Avaited to see if the mercy of the 
Almighty would allow their purpose to succeed, and learned that the spirit 
of the all-merciful Judge was with them. So they embarked, and began 
the dangerous journey across the channel, and sailed quickly with a smooth 
sea and favourable wind to the coast of Brittany. Here they rested for 
awhile to recover their strength and discussed their plans anxiously, until 
finally they decided to enter the land of Gaul. They wanted zealously and 
shrewdly to inquire into the disposition of the inhabitants, in order to 
remain longer if they found they could sow the seeds of salvation ; or, in 
case they found the hearts of the people in darkness, go on to the nearest 
nations." 



BEGINNINGS OF GERMAN SCHOOLS 3 

Of the early orders the Benedictines were most devoted to 
the cause of education, ^rom the famous monastery of Monte 
Casino, for the administration of which St. 
Benedict prescribed his more famous rules in BcnedSines 
529/ there proceeded a ray of light down 
through all the dark ages. The Benedictine monks, though 
secluded from the world, found eventually within claustral 
walls a little world of their own.^ The duties of every hour 
were carefully enjoined, and to a strict religious life under 
vows of poverty, chastity and obedience were added the de- 
mands of manual labour and the duty of instructing the young. 
The example of Cassiodorus, the prime minister of Theodoric 
the Great, who retired about 540 to a monastery, and there 
devoted his life to literary pursuits, had a wholesome influence 
on the ecclesiastics of his day. The rapid growth of religious 
orders and the accumulation of property required no little 
administrative ability. This led eventually to many monks 
becoming learned men ; in every monastery some scholars 
were a necessity. And with the development of the idea that 
the Church was the Kingdom of God on Earth, the Benedic- 
tines became the tools of the Bishops of Kome in conquering 
the world. 

It is a significant fact that the great apostle to the Ger- 
mans, the Anglo-Saxon Winfried, better known as St. Boni- 
face, introduced the monastic rules of St. Benedict through- 
out Germany. The labours of the Irish missionaries early in 
the seventh century had been restricted to southern Germany 
and Switzerland. But they founded there monastic schools, 
notably Reich enau and St. Gall, which became the models of 
all northern Europe. Boniface, a century later, received a 
commission from the Pope (718), to Christianize and Roman- 

' Henderson, Seled Historical Documents of the Middle Ages, London, 
1892, gives an English translation of " The Rule of St. Benedict." See 
pp. 274-314. 

^ Putnam, Books and Their Makers During the Middle Ages, New York, 
1896, Vol. I., pp. 106-145, gives an account of the literary activities of the 
Benedictines, 



4 GERMAN HIOHEll SCHOOLS 

ize all Germany. The results of his labours were truly marvel- 
lous ; in five years he had succeeded In planting the standard 
of Rome in all parts of Thuringia and Hesse, and as strong- 
holds of the faith cloisters grew up under his fostering care. 
In 732 he was made archbishop, the head of an ecclesiastical 
system including many bishoprics and important clerical in- 
stitutions. At the time of his death in 755 the Roman Cath- 
olic conquest of Germany was nearly complete ; the Bishop 
of Rome was supreme.^ And with Roman Catholicism came 
the elements of Latin learning and the culture of the Church. 

Boniface seems to have been not less interested in Roman- 
izing Germany than in giving the youth of Germany a Christ- 
ian education. The German abbeys were every 
^choolr ^^^^ ^^ them mission schools. Tlie enthusiasm 
of the great apostle inspired his disciples, men 
and women alike, to heroic efforts. The monasteries of Fitz- 
lar, Biiraburg, Heidesheim, Eichstatt, Erfurt and Fulda, and 
the nunneries of Bischofsheim, Kitzingen and Ochsenfurt, 
were centres of educational influence, training-schools for 
native missionaries. 

The aim of these schools was naturally enough to promote 
the work of the Church. Boys of five to seven years of age 
were dedicated to the holy office and reared within convent 
walls. The church language and singing stood first in a 
curriculum theoretically composed of the Trivium — grammar, 
rhetoric and dialectic ; and of the Quadrivium — arithmetic, 
geometry, astronomy and music. Upon these seven liberal 
arts, as on seven impregnable pillars, the superstructure, 
tlieology, was built. ^ 

Under the influence of Charles the Great and Alcuin, edu- 
cational ideals ceased to be exclusively ecclesiastical. The 
purpose of the schools became something more than that of 
preparation for the priesthood. A dawning national self- 

' The Councilium Germanicuni recognized the Roman Pontiff as head 
of the Church in 748. 

'^ Cf. Schiller, Geschichte der Pddagogik : Die Klosterschulen^ Leipzig, 
1894, p. 35 f. 



BEGINNINGS OF GERMAN SCHOOLS 5 

consciousness led to a dream of Empire, but an Empire in 
harmony with the Church. Those who aspired to the rule 
of the Roman Empire must needs be somewhat 
acquainted with Roman learning. Hence the ^^GreaV^^ 
rise of the ^^ Palace School"^ at the court of 
Cliarles the Great, the pioneer school for the nobles of the 
realm. ^ 

The task of Alcuin was nothing less than the introduction 
and diffusion of learning among the Franks, a task of no lit- 
tle difficulty when we consider the deplorable . 
condition of education consequent on the bar- 
baric rule of the Merovingian kings. The church schools 
were no longer the seats of learning ; some of them had fallen 
a prey to selfish royal favourites ; others had abandoned them- 
selves to the lusts of the flesh. For the upbuilding of that 
^^more excellent Athens,'^ which Alcuin hoped to establish in 
Frankland, it was necessary that the monastic and cathedral 
schools be reformed and enthused with new life.^ More than 
that, the common people would have to be rescued from 
barbarism and raised by Christian education to an apprecia- 
tion of Christian citizenship. The famous proclamation of 
Charles, issued in 787 to the abbots of the different monas- 
teries, sometimes called the first general charter of education 
for the Middle Ages, shows clearly the intent of Alcuin in 
regard to the schools. The copy addressed to Bangulf, abbot 
of Fulda, runs as follows : 

" Be it known to your devotion, pleasing to God, that in 
conjunction with our faithful we have judged it to be of 
utility that, in the bishoprics and monasteries ^.^.^^ ^^^^^^ 
committed by Christ^s favour to our charge, care charter of 
should be taken that there shall be not only a ^d'^^^'^^^- 
regular manner of life and one conformable to holy religion, 

' Cramer, Geschichte der Erziehung und des Unte^'richts in den Nieder- 
landen wdhrend des Mittelalters^ Stralsund, 1843, gives an interesting ac- 
count of educational progress under Charles the Great. 

^ See G. B. Adams' Civilization During the Middle Ages, p. 163 fF. ; 
Bryce's Holy Roman Empire^ ch. v. ; and Oman's The Dark Ages^ p. 379 flE. 



6 GERMAN IIIOHER SCHOOLS 

but also the study of letters, each to teach and learn them 
according to his ability and the divine assistance. For even 
as due observance of the rule of the house tends to good 
morals, so zeal on the part of the teacher and the taught im- 
parts order and grace to sentences ; and those who seek to 
please God by living aright should also not neglect to please 
him by right speaking. It is written ' by thine own words 
shalt thou be justified or condemned ; ' and although right 
doing be preferable to right speaking, yet must the knowl- 
edge of what is right precede right action. Every one, there- 
fore, should strive to understand what it is that he would 
fain accomplish ; and this right understanding will be the 
sooner gained according as the utterances of the tongue are 
free from error. And if false speaking is to be shunned by 
all men, especially should it be shunned by tliose who have 
elected to be the servants of the truth. During past years 
we have often received letters from different monasteries in- 
forming us that at their sacred services the brethren offered 
up prayers in our behalf ; and we have observed that the 
thoughts contained in these letters, though in themselves 
most just, were expressed in uncouth language, and while pi- 
ous devotion dictated the sentiments, the unlettered tongue 
was unable to express them aright. Hence tliere has arisen 
in our minds the fear lest, if the skill to write rightly were 
thus lacking, so too would the power of rightly compre- 
hending the Sacred Scriptures be far less than was fitting, 
and we all know that, though verbal errors be dangerous, 
errors of the understanding are yet more so. We exhort you, 
therefore, not only not to neglect the study of letters, but to 
apply yourself thereto with perseverance and with that hu- 
mility which is well pleasing to God ; so that you may be 
able to penetrate with greater ease and certainty the myste- 
ries of the Holy Scriptures. For as these contain images, 
tropes and similar figures, it is impossible to doubt that the 
reader will arrive far more readily at the spiritual sense ac- 
cording as he is the better instructed in learning. Let there, 
therefore, be chosen for this work men who are able and 



BEOINNINQS OF GERMAN SCHOOLS 7 

willing to learn, and also desirous of instructing others ; and 
let them apply themselves to the work with a zeal equalling 
the earnestness with which we recommend it to them. 

*^ It is our wish that you may be what it behooves the sol- 
diers of the Church to be, — religious in heart, learned in dis- 
course, pure in act, eloquent in speech ; so that all who ap- 
proach your house in order to invoke the Divine Master or to 
behold the excellence of the religious life, may be edified in 
beholding you and instructed in hearing you discourse or 
chant, and may return home rendering thanks to God most 
High. 

'^ Fail not, as thou regardest our favour, to send a copy of 
this letter to all thy suffragans and to all the monasteries ; 
and let no monk go beyond his monastery to administer justice 
or to enter the assemblies and the voting-places. Adieu. '^^ 

The ideal ecclesiastic should be ^' religious in heart, learned 
in discourse, pure in act, eloquent in speech,'^ a man both 
^'^able and willing to learn, and also desirous of instructing 
others." As a faithful soldier of the Church it is incumbent 
on him to see to it that, for the sake of a right comprehension 
of the mysteries of the Holy Scriptures, the study of letters 
be not neglected. Again Charles writes : 

'^ As it is our desire to improve the condition of the Church, 
we make it our task to restore, with most watchful zeal, the 
study of letters, a task almost forgotten through the neglect 
of our ancestors. We therefore enjoin on our subjects, so 
far as they may be able, to study the liberal arts, and we set 
them the example."^ 

The immediate effect of these injunctions was a quickened 
activity in the old church schools and the foundation of new 
ones. Generally speaking the sole function of the monastic 
and cathedral schools had been hitherto the training of 
churchmen ; the doors were now opened to laymen — but cau- 



^ I. Migne, Patrologia Latina^ xcviii., 895. Mullinger, ScJiools of Charles 
the Great, 97-99. 

2 Pertz, Leges^ I., 44. Quoted by West, Alcuin^ NeAv York, 1892, p. 54. 



8 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

tiously.^ Boys who were dedicated to the monastic life, oh- 
lati, were trained in the interior school ; the exterior school. 
Progress under outside the convcnt walls, was reserved for the 
Charles the sccular clcrgj and laymen.^ The cathedral 
Great. scliools Were in many respects similar to the 
exterior schools of the monasteries. But under Charles the 
Great a separation was commonly made between the eccle- 
siastical and the lay students. The prevailing ignorance, 
superstition and immorality of the lower priesthood, which 
Charles sought to correct, was due in part to lack of educa- 
tion and in part to the custom of taking candidates from the 
lowest social class, very often from among the serfs. The 
remedy for this evil was instruction in letters and a life 
under monastic rule. Hence as the custom arose of collect- 
ing all the clergy of a diocese about the bishop's 
^^c^hooR church, a special school was needed for the 
canons. Herein the cathedral schools found 
their chief work, but as a rule both the monastic and the cathe- 
dral schools were also open to those who had no intention of 
leading a strictly religious life. The discipline of the inter^ii 
was naturally more rigorous than that of the externiy and, 
too, the novices were taught more of the Scriptures, more of 
church music and ritual. But the course of study for be- 
ginners was practically the same for all. Pupils were ad- 
mitted when about seven years of age. Their first task was 
to commit the Latin Psalter to memory. Along with this 
went reading, writing and a little arithmetic. The enforced 
use of the Latin language at all times, in school and out, 
eventually gave them a second mother -tongue. To make 
their pupils adepts in the 2ise of this tongue was, next to a 
knowledge of Holy Writ, the chief aim of the mediaeval 
schools. As a means to this end Roman authors, especially 

' Basilius, bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia (370-379), is said to have 
been the first to divide the cloistral schools into schola claiistri s. interior 
and schola canonica s. exterior. 

-See Encyc. Britan.^ Vol. I., under "Abbey" for the arrangement at 
St. Gall. 



BEGINNINGS OF GERMAN SCHOOLS 9 

the poets, were carefully studied — not for what they said so 
much as for their way of saying it. This was the work of 
grammar and rhetoric ; dialectics seem not to have been 
much in evidence except in the greatest schools. Of the 
Realien the only subject of moment was music — church 
music at that. Just enough arithmetic was taught for the 
computation of the church calendar. It will be seen, there- 
fore, that Latin formed the main part of the curriculum — its 
prominence being due to the fact that Latin was the language 
of the Bible, of the Church and the learned world. Greek 
was almost unknown in Germany ; yet not wholly lost, as a 
pupil of Swiss Reichenau (815-825) tells us in his autobi- 
ography that besides Vergil, Lucan, Statins, Cicero, Quin- 
tilian, Sallust, Livy and other so-called sacred and scientific 
authors he mastered several books of Homer^s Iliad.^ 

The elevation of the clergy was undoubtedly hampered 
by the practice of drawing recruits largely from the servile 
class. Charles insisted that candidates for the 

L^■^^^^•^l^ £ j_i £ Condition of the 

priesthood should be taken from the sons of ciergy. 
freemen. The Church was the light of the 
world ; its representatives should be men capable and wor- 
thy of their high office. And as the custodians of learning 
they should give to others even as had been given to them. 
Not only in the monastic and cathedral schools were teachers 
needed, but every parish priest should be a teacher to those 
about him. A capitulary of 802 enjoined that " everyone 
should send his son to study letters, and that the child should 
remain at school with all diligence until he should become 
well instructed in learning."^ 

The most notable conception of Charles and Alcuin was 
that of a state school system, a system that provided instruc- 
tion for all classes of society — nobles, clergy and peasantry. 
From the ^' Palace School " at court proceeded that influence 

' Kellner, Sketches and Pictures of Educational History^ Essen, 1862, 
Vol. I., p. 132. Cf. also Ekkehart, Lib. Benedict., p. 345. 
2 Pertz, Leges, I., 107. Cited by West in Alcuin, p. 54. 



10 OEE^fAJY HIGHER SCHOOLS 

which infused new life into the schools of the monasteries 
and bishoprics, and these in turn were responsible for the 
teachers and the teaching of the parish schools. It should 
not be forgotten, however, that the entire system was in the 
hands of the Church. Alcuin himself was a monk educated 
in a monastic school, and died the abbot of the monastery in 
Tours (804). 

The enthusiasm of Charles and Alcuin penetrated the 
schools of Germany and served to uphold for a time the 
hands of her teachers. Fulda attained great renown early in 
the tenth century, under the leadership of Eabanus Maurus, 
a disciple of Alcuin. A century later the cloistral school of 
Hersfeld enjoyed a high reputation. Among the leading 
cathedral schools of the eleventh century may be mentioned 
those of Cologne, Mainz, Worms, Speyer, Hildesheim and 
Magdeburg. 

In the general collapse of the tenth century most of the 
gains of the eighth were lost. The period of chaos following 
the reign of Charles the Great was a sorry time for German 
scliools. There could be little thought of education when 
men^s minds were most concerned with the preservation of 
their lives ; but finally, after terrible sacrifice, order was re- 
stored and another period of progress was entered upon. The 
life of the period, however, was vastly different from that of 
the eighth century. New educational ideas gave rise to new 
])edagogical methods. 

Feudalism had gained a firm foothold in Germany. Class 

distinctions were more closely drawn than ever before. The 

separation of the nobility, secular and ecclesi- 

FeudaUsm. l- . . ,. ! i i 

astical, irom the peasantry was now sharply 
marked. Wealth, which meant power, was a chief desidera- 
tum ; its possession exalted a man, the want of it brought 
him low. The spirit of chivalry was intensified by the cru- 
sades, and at every court noble bards, guiltless of the rudi- 
ments of letters, sang the praises of woman and wine. Suc- 
cess in battle, the chase, or the tournament, in making love 
or writing verses — any or all were worth striving for and it 



BEGINNINGS OF GERMAN SCHOOLS 11 

mattered little in which domain the prize was won. For 
the realization of such ideals some systematic training of the 
young was necessary. For this purpose the seven liberal arts 
of the church school were supplanted by the seven Frmmnig- 
keiten of feudalism, — riding, swimming, archery, fencing, 
hunting, whist-playing and rhyming. The arts of reading 
and writing were quite unnecessary ; in fact it was considered 
somewhat effeminate to dally long with books. But a speak- 
ing knowledge of French was useful and was sometimes 
taught at court by private tutors. In the training of the 
young noble, therefore, schools were entirely superfluous. 

Feudalism was essentially antagonistic to the schools ; 
scholasticism gave them new life. The efforts of the school- 
men to reconcile the revealed dogmas of the 
Church with natural reason, ^^to render the gJjJoMdsm. 
dogma acceptable to reason,^^ supplied new mo- 
tives for study. The alliance between theology and philos- 
ophy developed an imperative demand for close syllogistic 
reasoning. The scholar must be a skilful dialectician. The 
study of grammar and rhetoric led to the comprehension of 
the mysteries of the Holy Scriptures ; this, with the faith to 
believe the patristic dogmas of the Church, was all the old 
education sought to attain. Scholasticism marks the dawn 
of a scientific era. The rise of the University of Paris marks 
the corresponding advance in the history of education. 

During the period of political disorder that preceded the 
establishment of feudalism the Germans were compelled to 
seek safety within walled inclosures. These 
grew in time into cities and formed the chief 
centres of trade and commerce when travel again became safe 

^ " In Wahrheit ist das Mittelalter gar nicht weltfliichtig und lebenssatt, 
sondern voll Freiide und Verlangens. Kampf und Eroberung, mit den 
Waffen und im Handel, ist sein Tagewerk, Jagd und Kanipfspiel seine 
Erholung, maclit und Reichtum sein Ziel. Der Inlialt seiner Lieder ist 
Liebeslust und Liebesleid." — Paulsen, Gesch. d. Gel Unterrichts^ Leipzig, 
1885, p. 6. Cf. also Wilson, The State^ Boston, 1892, ch. vii., on tbe 
feudal system. 



12 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

and profitable. The guilds of the Middle Ages, secret organ- 
izations of people engaged in the same occupation and with 
like interests, greatly facilitated commercial activity. After the 
reign of the Hohenstaufen, say about 1254, the leading cities 
of Germany gained complete political independence. Back 
of these political changes were social changes of equal impor- 
tance. The expansion of trade and the increase of wealth in 
the cities placed the balance of power in the hands of the 
Burger, a new social class midway between the earlier ex- 
tremes. Tradesmen, master workmen and skilled mechanics 
were as thoroughly differentiated from the peasant class 
below as from the nobles above. Nor were their needs iden- 
tical with the needs of the clergy. New ideals of life and 
new standards of living obviously demanded a new mode of 
education. But learning was the pro23erty of the Church. 
Only by an alliance with the Church could the benefits of 
learning be secured. Cathedral schools, monastic schools and 
specially endowed church schools there were in considerable 
numbers, but they all were ill -adapted to the practical needs 
of practical men. The next step was the establishment in 
every city of schools designed to extend the benefits of learn- 
ing to the middle classes.^ Notwithstanding these schools 
were under city patronage, supported from public funds and 
designed to give a practical education, they were still con- 
nected with the Church and under clerical supervision and 
direction. So completely had the idea permeated all grades 
of society that the Church was the sole dispenser of spiritual 
gifts, that a secular school system seems scarcely to have been 
considered. Even the founding of city schools required the 
assent of episcopal authorit}- — a favour sometimes gi-anted only 
after a long struggle with the bishops and final appeal to the 
Po23e. And despite the secular aim of the city schools, their 
organization, subject-matter and methods of instruction did 

' Specht, GescMchte cles UnterricJitswesens in Deidschland von den 
dltesten Zeiten his zur Mitte des dreizehnten Jahrhunderts^ Stuttgart, 
1885, p. 241 ff. 



BEGINNINGS OF GERMAN SCHOOLS 13 

not materially differ from tlie older clinrch schools. They 
were ^' Latin schools/' as the others were, but their ultimate 
aim was the making of citizens and business men instead of 
priests of the Roman Church. 

The obvious result of this system of semi-public schools 
was wide-spread knowledge of letters among the burghers. 
In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, when 

, , T . ..... .\ T City Schools. 

the cities reached tlieir zenith, it is saia that 
the citizens were better educated than the contemporary 
nobles.^ Although the city schools were theoretically of the 
same type as the church schools it is probable that the prac- 
tical ends for which they were striving had the effect of 
making them quite independent. Certainly less emphasis 
was placed on Latin and singing. The vernacular was grow- 
ing into a vigorous tongue, and its use was essential to the 
commercial life of the tradesmen. Hence the schools were 
inclined to give more attention to the common branches. 

Contemporaneous witli the period of greatest activity in 
feudal circles and with the rise of a middle class in society the 
attention of learned Germany was directed to the 
new movement in higher education inaugurated ^^^ ^i^i^emty 

° ® Movement. 

with the founding of the University of Paris. ^ 
This movement was a part of ecclesiastical policy. The Pope 
was its final authority, and the masters of the university and 
most of the students were in holy orders. Nevertheless in- 
struction in the subtleties of Aristotelian philosophy and 
the mysteries of ancient science exercised a profound influ- 
ence upon the higher thought of Germany. Following at a 
respectful distance, Germany, a century later than France, 
England, Italy and Spain, became the patron of the three 
scholastic sciences of Theology, Jurisprudence and Medicine. 

^ Tlie records of the city of Frankfort show that from about 1417 on- 
wards the members of the guilds coming from all parts of Germany signed 
their names to the registers "by the hundreds." Cf. Kriek, Deutsclies 
Bilrgerihnm im Mitielalter ; das Schu/.weseti^ Frankfort, 1870. 

^ Cf. Kashdall, Universiiies of Europe in the Middle Ages, Oxford, 1895, 
Vol. I., 25-74, 271 IT. 



14 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

The first German University was founded by Emperor Charles 
IV., at Prague in 1348 with the purpose, as its charter reads, 
that his " faithful subjects who continually hungered for the 
fruits of science might find satisfaction at home and no longer 
be compelled to girdle the earth in the search for knowledge, 
to hunt out strange peoples and to beg in foreign lands." 
Six others^ were established in rapid succession, and in the 
following century, under the influence of humanism, nine 
more ^ were added to the list. 

As first planned, the universities were ecclesiastical estab- 
lishments, defenders of the faith, foundations of the Church 
, , for the hio'her education of the clers'v. But in 

University Ideals. ^ jj i • i • -i i i 

the support so ireely given by civil rulers and 
city corporations there was evidence of secular co-operation. 
Gradually the faculties of Law and Medicine adjusted them- 
selves to the professional needs of the times. It should be 
remarked, however, that in the theological atmosphere of the 
Middle Ages the Church cast its shadow over every science. 
Canon law was regarded as the main part of jurisprudence, and 
the art of healing a gift of God. The study of the liberal arts 
was but a preparation for higher work, itself presupposing 
the training of the Latin schools. Yet from the Bachelors and 
Masters of Arts of the universities who did not advance to the 
higher faculties a new class of learned men was being formed 
with ideals somewhat at variance with the established tradi- 
tions of the Church. Many of these becoming teachers in the 
lower schools prepared the way for a learned class outside the 
ecclesiastical fold.^ 



'Vienna, 13G5 — reorganized, 1384; Heidelberg, 1385; Cologne, 1388; 
Erfurt, 1392; Leipsic, 1409; Rostock, 1419. 

'■^ Griefswald, 1456; Frieburg, 1457; Basel, 14G0; Ingolstadt, 1472; 
Trier, 1473; Mainz, 1477; Tiibingen, 1477; Wittenberg, 1502; Frankfort- 
on-the-Oder, 1506. 

^ Of. Raslidall, Universities of Europe in the Middle Ages, II., 211, 232- 
282, 593 fp. ; Paulsen, German UniversHies, New York, 1895, pp. 16-88; 
Laurie, Rise and Constitution of Universities, cb. x. ; and Deuifle, Die 
Entstehung der Universitdten des Mittel alters his 1400, Berlin, 1885. 



BEGINNINOS OF GERMAN SCHOOLS 15 

The fourteenth and fifteenth centuries mark the completion 
of a process toward the liberation of the commons, the work- 
ing classes. Under feudalism, slavery became 

, ., ., , , p i-i. £^ Common Schools. 

territorial and was transformed into serfdom. 
Towns and cities, under the impulse of trade and commerce, 
enfranchised the commons. Later, for selfish reasons, and 
because of the church teachings, agricultural serfs were freed. 
This large class in society came to possess personality and im- 
portance ; freedom gave it rights and ideals. The needs and 
the ideals, the conditions and stage of political development 
under which this class became a factor in society, led to the 
establishment of schools for the common j^eople.^ 

The Latin language, which had long been the polite tongue 
as well as the medium of official intercourse, began here and 
there to give way to the vernacular. The common people 
could live without a knowledge of Latin. City officials could 
not longer disregard the language of the commons. The le- 
gal documents and accounts of the fourteenth century were 
mainly in German— a form intelligible at least within a lim- 
ited area. Indeed, the charters establishing these schools were 
written in the vernacular. A desire for learning spread 
among the commons, because the ability to read and write 
was a means to advancement. Wandering monks and teach- 
ers went about giving instruction, tliereby helping on the 
movement for tlie founding of schools. 

But just as the city Latin schools were the old church 
schools secularized, so the common schools were in reality 
Latin schools without Latin. And even here ecclesiastical in- 
fluence was not wanting. City magistrates might establish 
the schools, provide for their support, and nominate teachers, 
but the Church confirmed the appointments and supervised 
all school-work. And in return for this concession — for any 
recognition of secular education was deemed a concession by 

' For good short accounts of the period see G. B. Adams' Civilization 
During the Middle Ages^ pp. 279-310; Thatcher and Schwill's Europe in 
the Middle Age^ pp. 434 ff. and 563 flf. 



16 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

the Church — the tuition fees of the pupils often went into the 
coffers of the Church. 

At the end of the mediaeval period, therefore, we find a 
well-defined school system, embracing the common schools of 
the people at one extreme and the universities 
at the other. The significant fact is that it is 
the product of a gradual development brought into existence 
by the growth of different social classes, with their respective 
ideals of life, and dominated throughout by the Roman Cath- 
olic Church. 

General References : — Geschichie des deutschen Schulwesens in Rein's 
Encyklopddisches HandhucJi der PddagogiJc^ II., 693-747; K. A. Schmid, 
Geschichte der Erziehung^ Stuttgart, 181)2, IT., 94-5-48 ; Schmidt, Ges- 
cliiclite der Pddagogik^ II., 125-379; Stein, Das Bildungswesen des Mit- 
telalters^ Stuttgart, 1883 ; Willmann, Didaktik als Bildungslehre^ II., 
233-292; Kriek, Deutsches Durgerthum im 3fittelalter^ Frankfort, 1871; 
Tetzner, Geschichte der deutschen Bildung und Jugenderzieh^ing von der 
Urzeit his zur Errichtung von Stadtschulen^ Giitersloli, 1897 ; Rashdall, 
Universities of Europe in the Middle Ages^ Oxford, 1895 ; Drane, Chris- 
tian Schools and Scholars; Geffcken, Church and State; Hinschius, 
Staat und Kirche — Handhuch des offentlichen Rechts. 



CHAPTER II 

THE RISE OF PROTESTANT SCHOOLS 

1490-1618 

The characteristic theme of the Middle Ages was the res- 
toration and glorification of the kingdom of God on earth. 
Only so much knowledge of God and Man and Nature was 
tolerated as the Church thought safe to promulgate. The 
authority of the Church was supreme, not only in religious 
matters but in intellectual, social and political as well. The 
medii^val world, however, was not wholly enshrouded in in- 
tellectual night ; there was considerable store of classical 
learning. But learning having sought refuge in the monas- 
teries, became the handmaid of theology. The civilization 
of the Middle Ages was feudal and clerical. Both feudalism 
and the Church conspired to set at nought the natural rights 
of man. 

The fifteenth century saw the first-fruits of a new ideal. 
The key-note of the new movement was the glorification of 
man, his greatness and his fame ; the worship 
of the indiyidu<al, liis genius, his power, his '"'nVntislle.'''' 
immeasurable natural freedom. ^^ The revival 
of classic learning broke through the barriers set by the 
Church ; antiquity was discovered anew ; the feeling of kin- 
ship with the spirit of its art and philosophy permeated and 
renovated the western world, and in the admiration and imi- 
tation of these works of classic paganism, men felt their re- 
lationship, not merely with Christians, but with the whole 
human race. Their mode of thought became humanistic at 
the same time with their studies ; art and philosophy fol- 
2 17 



18 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

lowed in the same direction/^ ^ Interest in the humanities led 
to a revival of interest in the classic view of Nature. Thus 
science gained a place in the thought of the age, and to the 
conquest of the historical treasures of Greece and Eome were 
quickly added the discovery of a new world in geography and 
a new solar system in astronomy. The study of the ancient 
tongues exhibited clearly the striking contrast between the 
pure Latin of Cicero and the barbarous dialect of the Church. 
AVliat had passed for Latin, that to which the schools of 
Christendom were bending all their efforts, could no longer 
be venerated as a fountain of truth pure and undefiled. 
And the deeper investigation went, the more apparent it be- 
came that the historical teachings of the Church were hope- 
lessly mixed with error, and that nothing but an appeal to 
original sources could set free the truth. 

The whole movement of the Renaissance tended toward 

an awakened interest in humanity, a dissatisfaction with the 

formalism of the schoolmen and a consequent 

New Interest m ^^t^enivt to rcstorc the ancient culture of Greece 

Humanity. -^ 

and Eome.'^ In Italy, once the home of Roman 
culture, Petrarch (1304-1374), and Boccaccio (1313-1375) 
lighted the torch of classical learning; the Medici took it 
from their hands and fanned it into a blaze that illuminated 
all western Europe. Italy became directly the scene of in- 
tense activity. Store-houses of books were ransacked for 
manuscripts ; the contributions of Greece were joyously wel- 
comed upon the fall of Constantinople (1453); artists gath- 
ered fresh inspiration from Grecian masterpieces ; philoso- 
phers busied themselves with new views of life and new 
theories of the State. It meant a new civilization, or rather 
the transformation and regeneration of the old civilization. 
^^It is impossible to exaggerate the benefit conferred upon 

^ Fischer, DescaHes^ p. 81. 

2 See Syraonds' Renaissance in Italy and Burckhardt's Civilization of 
the Renaissance in Italy for au exhaustive treatment of the subject. G. 
B. Adams, Civilization During the Middle Ages, gives a convenient sum- 
mary in the chapter on " The Renaissance." 



THE RISE OF PROTESTANT SCHOOLS 19 

Europe by the Italians at this epoch. The culture of the 
chissics had to be reappropriated before the movement of the 
modern mind could begin ; before the nations 
could start upon a new career of progress, the The Renaissance 
chasm between the old and new world had to 
be bridged over. This task of reappropriation the Italians 
undertook alone, and achieved at the sacrifice of their literary 
independence and their political freedom. The history of 
Renaissance literature in Italy is the history of a national 
genius deviating from the course of self-development into 
the channels of scholarship and antiquarian research. The 
language created by Dante as a thing of power, polished by 
Petrarch as a thing of beauty, trained by Boccaccio as the 
instrument of melodious prose, was abandoned even by the 
Tuscans in the fifteenth century for revived Latin and newly 
discovered Greek. Patient acquisition took the place of 
proud inventiveness ; laborious imitation of classical authors 
suppressed originality of style. The force of mind which in 
the fourteenth century had produced a Divine Comedy and 
a Decameron, in the fifteenth was expended upon the in- 
terpretation of codices, the settlement of texts, the transla- 
tion of Greek books into Latin, the study of antiquities, the 
composition of commentaries, encyclopaedias, dictionaries, 
ephemerides. While we regret this change from creative to 
acquisitive literature, we must bear in mind that those schol- 
ars who ought to have been poets accomplished nothing less 
than the civilization, or, to use their own phrase, the hu- 
manization of the modern world. At the critical moment 
when the Eastern Empire was being shattered by the Turks, 
and when the other European nations were as yet unfit for 
culture, Italy saved the arts and sciences of Greece and 
Rome and interpreted the spirit of the classics. Devoting 
herself to what appears the slavish work of compilation and 
collection, she transmitted an inestimable treasure to the 
human race ; and though for a time the beautiful Italian 
tongue was superseded by a jargon of dead languages, yet the 
literature of the Renaissance yielded in the end the poetry of 



20 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

Ariosto, tlie political philosophy of Machiavelli, the histories 
of Guicciardini and Varolii. Meanwhile the whole of Europe 
had received the staple of its intellectual education/^ ^ 

Late in the fifteenth century the movement passed beyond 
the Alps. Enthusiastic scholars rivalled the Italians in their 

zeal for the resuscitation and purification of 
^GrmaTy!'' ^atiu. The University of Paris was the storm 

centre. The Brethren of the Common Life 
early admitted the new learning to a place in their schools. 
The institution founded by Groote (13-i0-1384) in Deventer, 
had as its leaders in the fifteenth century such enlightened 
humanists as Agricola (1443-1485), Hegius (1433-1498) and 
Murmellius (1479-1517). And here Erasmus (1466-1536) re- 
ceived his first impulse to humanistic studies. In south Ger- 
many Reuchlin (1455-1522) and Wimpheling (1450-1528) stand 
out as the clearest figures in the first dawn of the new day. 
Under such teachers as these Germany received its first lesson 
in Ciceronian Latin, in Greek and in Hebrew. Erasmus said 
of Agricola that he was '^ Grcecorum. grcBclssimus,Latinorum 
latinissimus/' and in a letter to Cardinal Eaphael he wrote 
thus in defence of Reuchlin : ^'^ It is to him really that Ger- 
many owes such knowledge as it has of Greek and Hebrew. 
He is a learned, accomplished man, respected by the Emperor, 
honoured among his own people, and blameless in life and 
character. ^^^ Of his own work he said in 1521, it has been 
*^ to restore a buried literature, and recall divines from their 
hair-splittings to a knowledge of the New Testament." ^ 

The Renaissance in Italy early showed two main tendencies, 
the one toward the revival of antiquity, the other toward a 

better comprehension of modern life. The one 
dencies. niode of thought found its chiefest satisfaction 

in the enjoyment of the restored literatures, the 
other in reforming art, philosophy, society and the state. The 

' Symonds, Renaissance in Italy — The Revival of Learning^ cli. ii. 
'^ Ep. clxviii. Cited by Froude, Erasmus^ ch. ix. 
2 Ep. dlxiii. /6., ch. xiv. 



THE RISE OF PROTESTANT SCHOOLS 21 

humanists of Germany exhibited unmistakably the former ten- 
dency ; they were almost to a man teachers of the classical 
languages. Yet they were more than linguists. They shared 
in the scientific spirit of the. age; yet the truth for which 
they sought lay buried in manuscripts. Their task it was to 
unearth the truth and publish it abroad. Distance from 
classic soil and the invention of printing ^ conspired to make 
the German humanists bookish from the start. 

An irresistible craving for truth for its own sake every- 
where characterized the leading spirits of the Renaissance.^ 
In their zeal to get at the facts it was inevitable that they 
should find opposition once they touched the dogmas of 
theology. Notwithstanding that the movement in its in- 
ception was favoured by the higher clergy and throughout its 
course the foremost humanists, the most profound scholars, 
remained loyal sons of the Church ; its influence was distinct- 
ly opposed to the dictatorial authority of the Church. Not 
only did increasing familiarity with pagan learning tend to 
array the humanists against the Church, but the spirit of in- 
dependence, the taste for freedom of thought, yes, even the 
study of the Scriptures and the patristic writings, militated 
strongly against clerical tyranny. The Church submerged 
the individual ; humanism exalted him. The theologians 
and the scholars could not long live peaceably together. 

Erasmus and Eeuchlin soon found themselves confronted 
by a threatening storm. ^' Theology," Erasmus wrote to 
Colet, '^is the mother of the sciences. But 

-^ ,^ 1 1 J.1 • 1 1 £ Evils of Monas- 

nowadays the good and the wise keep clear oi ticism. 
it, and leave the field to the dull and the sor- 
did, who think themselves omniscient." ^ Again, in tlie En- 
comium MoricB, he launches out vigorously against the 
scholastic divines : " They live in the third heaven, ador- 
ing their own persons and disdaining the poor crawlers 

^ Cf. Putnam, Boohs and Their Makers in the 3Iiddle Ages, pp. 348-402. 
2 Of. Francke, Social Forces in German Litei-ature, New York, 1896, 
p. 141. 

^ Froude, Erasmus^ ch. iii. 



22 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

upon earth. They are surrounded with a body-guard of defi- 
nitions, conchisions, corollaries, propositions explicit and 
propositions implicit. They will tell you how the world was 
created. They will show you the crack where Sin crept in 
and corrupted nuinkind. . . . They lift their theologic 
brows. They talk of their doctors solemn, doctors subtle 
and most subtle, doctors seraphic, doctors cherubic, doctors 
holy, doctors irrefragable. They practise all the tricks of 
the platform, and use them badly, and yet they are admired 
— wonderfully admired— by women who are on bad terms 
with their husbands.'^ ^ Against such lampooning as this 
no wonder the theologians were prompted to call Erasmus 
a " heretic," and " bring thunderbolts out of their arsenals " 
to train on him. 

Nor were the clerical party the only opponents of humanism 
in Germany. Scholasticism, firmly intrenched in the uni- 
versities, had its partisans and valiant defen- 
'"omSnSr ders. How fiercely the battle raged can be 
seen in the UpistolcB Obscurorum Virorum, 
anonymous publications which appeared during the second 
decade of the sixteenth century. They attacked the clerical 
party with keen satirical denunciation, and held up to ridi- 
cule the ablest university professors of the country. Thus 
the seed of dissension was sown which was destined to grow 
into revolution. 

If the Renaissance inspired a deeper respect for the hu- 
manities and pointed out the way to independent research 
and inductive reasoning, the Reformation finished the work 
in exalting the intrinsic worth of the individual. Guizot 
says the Reformation was " a vast effort made by the human 
mind to achieve its freedom ; it was a new-born desire to 
think and judge, freely and independently, of facts and 
opinions which till then Europe received, or was consid- 
ered bound to receive, from the hands of authority. It was a 

' Froude, Erasmus^ ch. viii. Cf. also Erasmus's Familiar Colloquies 
translated by Bailey, Glasgow, 1877, pp. 184 ff. 



THE RISE OF PROTESTANT SCHOOLS 23 

great endeavour to emancipate human reason, and to call 
things by their right names ; it was an insurrection of the 
human mind against the absolute power of spiritual order." ^ 
Luther in emphasizing the personal responsibility of the in- 
dividual immeasurably increased the dignity of man and es- 
tablished a principle of supreme importance in the national 
life. Nothing short of revolution could result from it — rev- 
olution not only in religious and political matters, but revo- 
lution within the schools and universities.^ 

Without the Reformation the revival of learning would 
have remained comparatively uninfluential in Germany. 
The Renaissance was throughout an aristocrat- The Renaissance 
ic movement. In Germany especially, to use an Aristocratic 
Paulsen^s phrase, it was ^^ an imitation of an im- ovemen . 
itation ; " it took its cue from the south. ^ It failed to reach 
the people. Still a few were tilled with its spirit ; the real 
leaders, Reuchlin and Erasmus, Ilegius and Wimpheling, 
Mosellanus and Melanchthon were profound scholars and 
earnest teachers. To their influence was due the founding 
of chairs of eloquence and of the Greek language everywhere 
in Germany even before the Reformation ; to them may be 
traced a movement for purer Latin and certain rational re- 
forms in the organization of the schools. But it is under the 
combined influences of both Renaissance and Reformation 
that we find the great changes in the educational system of 
Germany that mark the rise of the Protestant Schools. And 
it is of especial significance that in Germany alone of the lead- 
ing European countries the Reformers — they who alone 
reached the masses and strongly influenced the national life 
— were for the most part eminent humanists.^ Melanchthon 
and Erasmus were not only participants in the revolt against 
Romish oppression, but they were indefatigable exponents of 

' Guizot, History of Civilization^ New York, 1877, p. 255. Cf. Ilaz- 
litt's translation, London, 1851, Vol. I , p. 220. 

- Cf. G. B. Adams' Civilization During the Middle Ages^ pp. 416-442. 

'- Cf. Paulsen, Geschichte des Gelehrten Unterrichts., p. 34 ff. 

** Arnold, Higher Schools and Universities in Gerr)iany^ pp. 1-G. 



24 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

the new classical learning. ^ In the union of humanistic 
ideals with the Christian faith bom anew in the Eeformation 
we find the thread that will guide us through the confused 
period of reorganization of the German school system. 

Among the early humanists of northern Europe Erasmus 
easily held first place. His word was law in the learned world. 



Erasmus aud His 



SO 



profound was his scholarship and so strikii 



Educational his gcuius. To him, probably more than to any 
Ideals. Q^ i^-g contemporaries, was due what of life and 
spirit Avas infused into the early humanism of Germany, 
While accepting Quintilian^s theory of education of the ora- 
tor he never lost sight of Quintilian^s dictum that the good 
orator must first be a good man. It is not enough, he reit- 
erated, to compass heaven and earth in the search for elegan- 
cies of expression — even for those of Cicero. Cicero uses 
words as the signs of ideas, and both words and ideas are in- 
variably suited to his special purpose. Bare imitation, tliere- 
fore, must always be a senseless task. Hence, true eloquence 
must be born of a good purpose, directed to definite ends 
and give expression to lofty thought. It is the purpose of 
education to make a happy, contented, broad-minded, God- 
fearing man. Such a man must needs be a scholar and a gen- 
tleman, a philosopher filled with the ancient wisdom and 
trained in the school of experience. His life transcends the 
petty limitations of nationality ; he is the true citizen of the 
world of letters. 

The schools of Germany were not much afl;ected by the 
ideals of humanism until toward the end of the fifteenth cen- 
tury."^ In fact, it was not till the beginning 

HumTidsm ^^ ^^^^ sixteenth that many changes were intro- 
duced. The earliest teachers were wandering 
scholars, irrepressible, uncouth and boastful of their abili- 
ties. The possession of the new learning was riches enough ; 



' Cf. Taylor, Studies in German Literature^ pp. 135-166. 
^Kaemmel, Geschichte des deutsclien Schulwesens im Ubergange vom 
Mittelalter zur Neuzeit^ Leipsic, 1882. 



THE RISE OF PROTESTANT SCHOOLS 25 

they affected to despise a settled position and worldly goods ; 
even books were unnecessary to the man who carried the 
ancient world in his head. Between the years 1460 and 1490 
Heidelberg, Erfurt and Leipsic were intermittently honoured 
by such masters of '^ Poetry." In 1494 Erfurt established a 
professorship of Poesie unci Eloquenz. Greek, the classical 
literature and the New Testament gradually attained a place. 
Wittenberg, the first German University founded except by 
papal bull, was throughout humanistic from the beginning 
(1502). Luther began his lectures there in 1508 ; ten years 
later Melanchthon was called to the chair of Greek, and the 
same year instruction was first offered in Hebrew. Leipsic 
received her first professor of Greek in 1515, an Englishman 
who, after two years of residence, gave way to the learned 
Mosellanus. But even now the cause of humanism was won. 
The new scholars were the leaders in all the universities of 
the land. In 1519 both Erfurt and Leipsic, the strongest 
universities of central Germany, following the lead of Witten- 
berg, were reorganized in the humanistic sense. It was then 
that Erasmus could say that " the University of Leipsic, in 
which the old studies have long flourished, is now so enriched 
by the introduction of languages and sciences that she stands 
second to none.'^ The same year also marks the beginning of 
the end of German humanism through Luther and the Eefor- 
mation. 

Contemporaneous with the progress of humanism in the 
universities, similar changes were under way in the schools. 
All over Germany, particularly in the wealthier Humanism 
cities, there was a growing demand for better Enters the 
instruction in Latin. Nuremberg was typical schools. 
of all. Its city schools were slightly modified as early as 1485. 
In 1496 a ^'^poet" was engaged to teach literature, chiefly 
Latin poetry. A few years later the demand for training in 
eloquence, the ability to read, write and speak Ciceronian 
Latin, compelled the rectors of the city schools to extend 
their Latin course " in the new grmmnatica and 2^oesie or 
arte oratoria." The climax was reached in 1521, when a 



26 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

humanistic scholar was installed in the Seialdiis-Schule '' to 
give instruction in Latin, Greek and Hebrew."^ 

Humanism reached its height in the first twenty years of 
the sixteenth century. Scarcely a university or school of im- 
Humauism portancc but had been won over to the new 
Reaches its learning. Greek was everywhere recognized as 
Height: 1520. ^^^^ natural supplement of Latin, and wherever 
the practical utility of linguistic study outweighed its aes- 
thetic value Hebrew was added to the list. The fact that so 
much attention was given to the reading of the Scriptures in 
the original texts was of no little significance in view of 
Luther's appeal from the Church to the Bible.^ He hatched 
a game-cock, as the monks declared, from the Qgg laid by the 
humanists. 

The Keformation was the natural sequence of the Renais- 
sance. Men had been accustomed to go to the sources, to 
German Re- ^liink for tliemsclves and to find satisfaction in 
formers also pagan Culture. AVhat more natural than that 
Humamsts. ^|-^gy should rcason together about theology and 
the practices of the clergy, that they should come to doubt 
the authority for papal absolutism and the efficacy of papal 
indulgences. With Luther conviction passed quickly into ac- 
tion. And his action was of incalculably greater consequence 
for Germany than all that the humanists had done.^ The 
humanists stood apart from the people ; they represented a 
foreign civilization ; they knew no nationality. Luther sprang 
from the common people ; he was sympathetic, patriotic, and 
brave ; he spoke the German language and he reached the 
German heart. At his bidding the traditions of centuries 
were broken, old associations ruthlessly cast aside and the 
bonds of authority set .at naught. Thus the freedom that the 

^The records of the Nuremberg schools are given by Paulsen, Gel. 
Unt.^ pp. 105-108. 

^ Reuchlin's Hebrew Grammar, the first of its kind in Germany, appeared 
in 150G, and in 1516 the first edition of tlie New Testament in Greek was 
published by Erasmus. 

' Cf. Francke, Social Forces in German Literature^ p. 150 ff. 



THE BI8E OF PROTESTANT SCHOOLS 27 

Eenaissauce assured to the learned was offered by the Refor- 
mation to all mankind. 

Luther^s whole life was dominated by a single idea, the 
salvation of human souls. With a singleness of purpose, that 
had been fanatical if not sublime, he fought 

,. , , , ^ , , T .1 , 1 , T Luther's Aim. 

'' Beelzebub, batan, the devil, the great dragon, 
the old serpent, and the god of this world " on every field. 
And for this warfare he conceived it every man's duty to pre- 
pare himself. The great purpose of life is to do the will of 
God and to escape the consequences of sin. '^ The will of God 
is everything which he requires us to believe, do and suffer, 
in order that His name may be hallowed and His kingdom 
come.'' '' The consequences of sin are the wrath and dis- 
pleasure of God, temporal death and eternal condemnation." 
Redemption is found in Christ alone. ^^ Conversion is the 
work of the Holy Spirit, by which, through faith in Christ, 
we turn from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan 
to God." '^ Faith in Jesus Christ is personal trust in Him 
alone for salvation ;" and salvation means to be with Christ, 
'' to live under Him and in His kingdom, and to serve Him 
in everlasting righteousness, innocence and blessedness." ^ 

Luther took his stand squarely on the doctrine of justifi- 
cation by faith ; his sole authority was the Bible, " the word 
of God." " God makes Himself known to us partly through 
His works, mainly through His word." Repentance and per- 
sonal faith in Christ, for which a knowledge of the Scriptures 
is an almost indispensable prerequisite, is the corner-stone of 
Lutheranism. The " works " which the Roman Church had 
enjoined were useless except they came from a regenerated 
heart. 

In putting aside the observances, customs and traditions of 
the Roman Church, Luther abolished that ^Maw " which had 
been the ^^school-master" of media3val Europe. By fasting, 
penances and prayer, by ritualistic worship in public and in 
private, by conversation, confession and preaching, by cate- 

* Extracts from Luther's Catechism. 



28 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

chising and formal discipline, the Roman clergy had fash- 
ioned the mediaeval Christians according to the ideals of the 
Papacy. This was the true educational system 
A Change of ^ ^j^^ Middle Agcs, and in it the church schools 

School Masters. ^ ' 

played only a subordinate part ; the masses of 
the people were trained in the school of life, a school per- 
meated with ecclesiastical ideas and calculated to produce a 
simple, obedient laity. 

With the Reformation the authority of the Church was 
superseded by the authority of the Bible. All central Ger- 
many was let out of one school and invited to enrol itself 
under another teacher. Luther saw clearly the absolute ne- 
cessity of making the new education as effective as the old 
had been, and accordingly he resolved to supplant the formal 
teachings of Rome with a rational training of head and heart. 
But an undertaking of such vast dimensions, freighted with 
such tremendous consequences, demanded the combined sup- 
port of Family, State and Church. To secure harmony of 
action among these ^'^ three hierarchies established by God/' 
and to see that the right means were used in the right way — 
this was the life-work of Luther once tlie Reformation of 
Germany was an assured fact. For this purpose he translated 
the Bible, wrote his two catechisms, composed popular hymns, 
and unweariedly laboured to uplift the peasantry and strength- 
en the government. The great pedagogical service of Lu- 
ther, the most remarkable fact in a remarkable life, was his 
keen appreciation of Germany's need of an education broader 
than that of the schools if the shock of the protestant revolu- 
tion were to be successfully withstood. 

The duty thus imposed upon parents, Luther declares, is a 
divine requirement. ^^ Married people should know that they 

can perform no better and no more useful work 
?arents^ for God, Christianity, the world, themselves 

and their children, than by bringing up their 
children well. Pilgrimages to Rome and to Jerusalem, build- 
ing churches, providing for masses, or whatever else the work 
may be called, is nothing in comparison with the right train- 



THE RISE OF PROTESTANT SCHOOLS 29 

ing of children, for that is the straight road to heaven ; and it 
cannot be more easily attained in any other way. It is the 
peculiar work of parents, and when they do not attend to it, 
there is a perversion of nature, as when fire does not burn or 
water moisten. On the other hand, hell cannot be more easily 
deserved, and no more hurtful work can be done, than by 
neglecting children, letting them swear, learn shameful words 
and songs, and do as they please. ^^ ^ 

Again : ^"^ But this again is a sad evil that all live on as 
though God gave us children for our pleasure or amusement, 
and servants that we should employ them like a cow or ass, 
only for work, or as though all we had to do with our sub- 
jects were only to gratify our wantonness, without any con- 
cern on our part as to what they learn or how they live ; 
and no one is willing to see that this is the command of the 
Supreme Majesty, who will most strictly call us to an ac- 
count and j^unish us for it, nor that there is so great need to 
be so intensely anxious about the young. . . . Let every- 
one know, therefore, that above all things it is his duty (or 
otherwise he will lose the divine favour,) to bring up his chil- 
dren in the fear and knowledge of God ; and if they have 
talents, to have them instructed and trained in a liberal edu- 
cation, that men may be able to have their aid in government 
and in whatever is necessary.^' ^ 

Family government he considers the basis of all other 
government. Obedience to parents, therefore, is the chikVs 
chief duty. ^^For what is a city but a collec- ^^^.^^ ^^^^^^_ 
tion of houses ? How then can a city be well ment uie Basis of 
governed, when there is no government in the aii Government, 
separate houses, and neither child nor servant is obedient ? 
Likewise, what is a province but a collection of cities, towns, 
and villages ? When, therefore, the families are badly con- 
trolled, how can the province be well governed ? Verily 
there can be nothing but tyranny, witchcraft, murders, 

' Cited by Painter, Luther on Education., pp. 117-118. 
2 Same, p. IIG. 



30 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

thefts, disobedience. A principality is made np of districts ; 
a kingdom, of principalities ; an empire, of kingdoms ; these 
are all composed of families. Where the father and mother 
rnle badly, and let the children have their own way, there 
neither city, town, village, district, principality, kingdom 
nor empire, can be well and peacefully governed.''^ ^ 

For the guidance of parents in the proper instruction of 
their children he prepared his catechisms. They consist of 
a critical exegesis of the ten commandments, the Creed and 
the Lord^s Prayer, which ^^are the most necessary parts, 
which every Christian should first learn to repeat word for 
word, and which our children should be accustomed to recite 
daily when they arise in the morning, when they sit down to 
their meals, and when they retire at night ; and until they 
repeat them they should be given neither food nor drink. 
The same duty is also incumbent upon every head of a house- 
hold, with respect to his man-servants and his maid-servants, 
if they do not know these things and are unwilling to learn 
them. For a person who is so heathenish as to be unwilling 
to learn these things is not to be tolerated ; for in these three 
parts everything contained in the Scriptures is comprehended 
in short and simple terms." ^ 

That there was sufficient cause for alarm at the condition 

of education in the early years of the Eeformation is clearly 

apparent from the tenor of Luther's ^' Letter 

^udler^or *^ *^^^ Mayors and Aldermen of all the Cities 

of Germany in behalf of Christian Schools '^ 

(1524) and of- the " Sermon on the Duty of Sending Children 

to School '' (1530).^ Herein we see reflected a state of affairs 

due partly to the open rupture with the past and partly to 

^ Luther's comments on tlie "Fourth Coramandrnent. 

' From the introduction to the Catechism. 

•^ English translations of these, the most famous of Luther's pedagog- 
ical writings, may be found in Painter's Luther on Education., Philadel- 
phia, 1889. See also Kostlin's Life of Luther., New York, 1883, and Lu- 
ther's Pddagogische Schriften., edited by Schumann, Vienna and Leipsic, 
1884. 



THE RISE OF PROTESTANT SCHOOLS 31 

tiie popular interpretation of the doctrine of justification by 
faith rather than by works. '^ First of all/' Lnther writes, 
" we see how schools are deteriorating throughout Germany. 
The universities are becoming weak, the monas^.eries are de- 
clining. . . . For through the word of God the un- 
christian and sensual character of these institutions is be- 
coming known. And because selfish parents see that they 
can no longer place their children upon the bounty of mon- 
asteries and cathedrals, they refuse to educate them. ' Why 
should we educate our children/ they say, ' if they are not to 
become priests, monks and nuns, and thus earn a support ? ' " 

It is the work of the devil that the people are so neglectful 
of the higher education of their children. Therefore he ap- 
peals to the city magistrates and to the civil rulers to take the 
matter in hand. '' If we must annually expend large sums on 
muskets, roads, bridges, dams, and the like, in order that the 
city may have temporal peace and comfort, why should we 
not apply as much to our poor, neglected youth, in order that 
we may have a skilful school-master or two ? " 

But Luther has little regard for the general run of schools, 
even those of the humanists. "■ I should prefer, it is true, 
that our youth be ignorant and dumb rather 
than that the universities and convents should 
remain as the only sources of instruction open to them. For 
it is my earnest intention, prayer and desire that these schools 
of Satan either be destroyed or changed into Christian schools. 
But since God has so richly favoured us, and given us a great 
number of persons who are competent thoroughly to instruct 
and train our young people, it is truly needful that we should 
not disregard His grace and let Him knock in vain. . . . 
Therefore it will be the duty of the mayors and councils to 
exercise the greatest care over the young. For since the hap- 
piness, honor, and life of the city are committed to their 
hands, they would be recreant before God and the world, if 
they did not, day and night, with all their power, seek its 
welfare and improvement. Now the welfare of the city does 
not consist alone in great treasures, firm walls, beautiful 



32 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

houses, and mnnitions of war ; indeed, where all these are 
found, and reckless fools come mto power, the city sustains 
the greater injury. But the highest welfare, safety and power 
of a city consists in able, learned, wise, upright, cultivated 
citizens, who can secure, preserve and utilize every treasure 
and advantage. . . . Even if there were no soul (as I have 
already said), and men did not need schools and the languages 
for the sake of Christianity and the Scriptures, still, for the 
establishment of the best schools everywhere, both for boys 
and girls, this consideration is of itself sufficient, namely, that 
society "^ for the maintenance of civil order and the proper reg- 
ulation of the household, needs accomplished and well-trained 
men and women." 

It should be remembered, however, that in Luther^s opin- 
ion the chief end of education is distinctly religious. ^^ Able, 
learned, wise, upright, cultivated citizens'' 

Chief Eud of YnM^\^ ^Iso be earnest, active Christians. In the 

Education. . r t n 

union of the Church and State the latter must 
be theoretically subordinate. The schools which Luther most 
wanted were Christian schools, in wdiich the ancient languages 
should hold first rank. ^' The languages are the scabbard in 
which the AYord of God is sheathed. They are the casket in 
which this jewel is enshrined ; the cask in which this wine is 
kept ; the chamber in which this food is stored. ... If 
through neglect we lose the languages (which may God for- 
bid), we will not only lose the Gospel, but it will finally come 
to pass that we will lose also the ability to speak and write 
either Latin or German.'' The degeneracy of the Church is 
due to the ignorance of the languages in the dark ages, and 
the only remedy is the knowledge of them. '^ Since, then, 
it behooves Christians at all times to use the Bible as their 
only book and to be thoroughly acquainted with it, especially 
is it a disgrace and a sin at the present day not to learn the 
languages, Avhen God provides every facility, incites us to 
study, and wishes to have His word known." 

The schools should also give instruction in history, mathe- 
matics and handiwork. ^' My idea is that boys should spend 



THE RISE OF PROTESTANT SCHOOLS 33 

an hour or two a day in school, and the rest of the time 
work at home, learn some trade and do whatever is desired, 
so that study and work may go on together, 
while the children are young and can attend to cm-ricuium 
both. ... In like manner, a girl has time 
to go to school an hour a day, and yet attend to her work at 
home ; for she sleeps, dances, and plays away more than that. 
. . . But the brightest pupils, who give promise of becom- 
ing accomplished teachers, preachers, and workers, should be 
kept longer at school, or set apart wholly for study. , . . 
We must have persons qualified to dispense the AVord of God 
and the Sacraments, and to be pastors of the peojile. But 
Avhere will we obtain them, if schools are not established on a 
more Christian basis, since those hitherto maintained, even if 
they do not go down, can produce nothing but depraved and 
dangerous corruptors of youth ?" 

'* Finally, this must be taken into consideration by all who 
earnestly desire to see such schools established and the lan- 
guages preserved in the German states : that no 
cost nor pains should be spared to procure good 
libraries in suitable buildings, especially in the large cities, 
which are able to afford it. For if a knowledge of the 
Gospel and of every kind of learning is to be preserved, it 
must be embodied in books, as the prophets and apostles did, 
as I have already shown. . . . But my advice is, not 
to collect all sorts of books indiscriminately, thinking of 
getting only a vast number together. I would have discrim- 
ination used, because it is not necessary to collect the com- 
mentaries of all the jurists, the productions of all the theolo- 
gians, tlie discussions of all the philosophers, and the sermons 
of all the monks. Such trash I would reject altogether, and 
provide my library only with useful books; and in making 
the selection, I would advise with learned men. In the first 
place, a library should contain the Holy Scrijotures in Latin, 
Greek, Hebrew, German, and other languages. Then the 
best and most ancient commentators in Greek, Hebrew, and 
Latin. Secondly, such books as are useful in acquiring the 



34 OERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

languages, as the i3oets and orators, without considering 
whether they are heathen or Christian, Greek or Latin. For 
it is from such works that grammar must be learned. 
Thirdly, books treating of all the arts and sciences. Lastly, 
books on jurisprudence and medicine, though here discrimi- 
nation is necessary. A prominent place should be given to 
chronicles and histories, in whatever languages they may be 
obtained ; for they are wonderfully useful in understanding 
and regulating the course of the world, and in disclosing the 
marvellous works of God.''^ 

It was characteristic of the great reformer that whatever he 

did he never left anyone in doubt as to his real intentions. 

T .T, +1,-0 His words went straight to the mark. So in 

Luther the Re- ^ o 

former-Meiancii- discussiug cducational atfairs there was no un- 
thontheHu- certainty as to his attitude. He wanted sys- 

manist. "^ "^ 

tematic family instruction ; he stated clearly 
the purpose of it and supplied the means, even to question 
and answer, in his catechisms. He wanted schools for the 
people that likely boys might be discovered for the service 
of the Church and State. He wanted schools for the higher 
training of those who might become preachers and civil 
rulers. Above all things he wanted Christian schools in 
which everything taught should redound to the glory of God 
and the salvation of immortal souls. He approved of the 
study of the ancient languages, but not for humanistic rea- 
sons ; the immediate end of language study, as he con- 
ceived it, was not the cultivation of literary style, nor yet the 
recovery of pagan learning, but rather the interpretation and 
understanding of the Word of God. Luther's position was 
diametrically opposed to the ideals of the humanists ; never- 
theless the course of events yoked together Luther, the re- 
former, and Melanchthon, the humanist, in the great work 
of reorganizing the German school system. The union was 
unique, but the situation demanded the co-operation of the 
two movements which they pre-eminently represented. 

An adequate presentation of Melanchthon's pedagogical 
views and of the part he played in the history of German 



THE RISE OF PROTESTANT SCHOOLS 35 

schools would transcend the limits of the present study. 
Suffice it to say that as a nephew and disciple of the famous 
Keuchlin he was a humanist of the humanists. Meianchthon's 
His inaugural address on taking his chair in Pedagogical 
Wittenberg, cle corrigeiidis adolescent ice studiis, 
marked out the path which he followed the rest of his life. 
The only remedy for the ignorance of the Middle Ages, he 
assumed, was to go back to the sources of classical learning 
and start afresh. Greek he ranked on a par with Latin be- 
cause of its content. For style Cicero stands pre-eminent ; 
for training in conversational Latin, Terence. The immedi- 
ate aim of all linguistic study is diluclde et persjncue dicere ; 
the literature, fortified by theology, ethics, mathematics and 
the natural sciences, leads to prudentia et humanitas. As a 
teacher, organizer and maker of text-books, Melanchthon ex- 
celled all his contemporaries. His lectures at Wittenberg in- 
cluded almost the entire round of the linguistic and philo- 
sophical studies — dialectics and physics, ethics and history, 
mathematics and astronomy, Greek grammar, Cicero, Sal- 
lust, Tacitus, Quintilian, Vergil, Terence, Ovid, Horace, 
Homer, Hesiod, Demosthenes, JEschines, Lycurgus, Sopho- 
cles, Euripides, Aristophanes, Pindar, Theognis, Thucydides, 
Aristotle and the Greek New Testament. The text-books 
which he wrote on most of these subjects were in common 
use for more than a century after his death. But perhaps 
in no way did Melanchthon better deserve the title. Pre- 
ceptor Germanim, than in his attention to the training of 
teachers for the higher schools. The best teachers of the 
Reformation age were Melanch thongs pupils. Through them 
the schools which he organized became famous, and his influ- 
ence extended throughout all Germany. ^ 

In the general crash of the Reformation it is significant 
that monarchical Germany retained the episcopal form of 

' For an account of Melanchthon's services to education in Germany, 
see Paulsen, Gel. Unt., pp. 73-77, 135-139, 147-160; Rein's Ency. 
Hdhk. d. Pad.; and Kehrbach's Monumenta Germanice Pcedagogica^NoX. 
VII. — Philipp Melanchthon als PrcBcevtor Germanice by Hartf elder. 



36 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

church government — in effect if not in name. Even before 
1530 there was a marked tendency toward a territorial 
churchy the head of which should be the ruler of the state. 
Saxony and Hesse led the way ; others followed in rapid suc- 
cession, until in 1540 practically every protestant state of 
Germany had its own church — a condition of affairs tolerable 
to Luther only on the ground that the state is a divine in- 
stitution designed to enable its citizens the better to do the 
will of God. 

The reorganization of the universities, especially of the 
theological faculties, was an imj^erative necessity in view of 

Foundino- of ^^^^ ^'^^^ ^^^^^ preaclicrs were wanted, not priests 
Protestant — meu learned in the Scriptures and the Lu- 

Umversities. tlieran doctrines, rather than men skilled in 
the use and manipulation of symbols. The University of 
Marburg was founded for this i3urpose in 1529. Witten- 
berg was reformed in the early 30^s, and within a decade 
thereafter Tiibiugen, Leipsic, Basel, Frankfort-on-the-Oder, 
and Greifswald followed. With the founding of the uni- 
versities of Konigsberg (1544), Jena (1558) and Helmstiidt 
(1559), and the reorganization of Heidelberg (1558) and Ros- 
tock (1503), the triumph of the Reformation was complete. 
Candidates for the ministry were thereafter enabled to get not 
only a Christian education, but provision was made in all the 
universities for supporting meritorious students by scholar- 
ships, bursaries and stipends of various sorts. 

Closely associated with the reorganization of the univer- 
sities, and, like it, directly traceable to the movement for 
Secularization of ^ ^^^^^ churcli, was the secularization of the 
the School school systeiu. In this, too, as in the case of 
System. ^^^q universities, Melanchthon played a leading 
part. It is said that not a course of study was adopted, 
nor a school founded, in all protestant Germany during the 
first twenty years of the Reformation without his having 
something to do with it. The influence of Luther was not 
wanting, of course, but Melanchthon was the better educa- 
tionalist and the better organizer. 



THE RISE OF PROTESTANT SCHOOLS 37 

The first protestant school, according to Paulsen/ was 
established in Magdeburg (1524) by the union of the old 
parochial schools under one management. In r^^^ ^^^^^ 
1525 the Counts of Mansfield called upon the Protestant 
reformers to organize a school in Eisleben, the School, 
birthplace of Luther. Melanchthon^s plan for this school 
is the oldest protestant school programme now extant. It 
provides for three classes. The first classis is the elementary 
school, in which reading and writing are the main subjects. 
The second classis is devoted chiefly to grammar, i.e., the lin- 
guistic study of Terence and Vergil. The third classis deals 
with rhetoric and dialectic ; Erasmus' cle diqjlici copia serves 
as a text-book, and besides Livy, Sallust, Vergil, Horace and 
Cicero are studied. Favoured pupils may also make some 
beginning of Greek and Hebrew. Mathematics is considered 
desirable, but the exigencies of the schedule rule it out. 
Music gets one hour a day, and on Sunday there is instruction 
in religion. 

Erasmus himself could not have devised a more humanistic 
course of study than the reformers placed before the little 
school at Eisleben. The ability to read, write and speak 
good Latin is the one chief end. If Melanchthon had no 
thought of making Latin orators, he certainly desired for 
these pupils a Ciceronian style. It is interesting to note here 
and in subsequent developments how barren were Luther's 
ideas wherever Melanchthon's influence extended. 

The first step toward a state school system was taken by 
the Electorate of Saxony. The Kursdchsisclie 8c]iulordnung 
of 1528 was the first official response to Luther's The School 
appeal for the co-operation of municipalities in System of 
the founding of protestant schools.^ It pro- Saxony, i528. 
vided not only for schools, but for a uniform system of 
schools throughout the Electorate. This plan was also 

' Geschtchte des GelehHen Urderrichts^ p. 182 

- Cf. Schiller, Geschichte der Pddagogik^ p. 99. The best authority on 
the period is Burkhardt, Geschichte der sdchsischen Ki7xhen- und Schul- 
visitationen von 1524-45, Leipzig, 1879. 



38 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

Melanclithon^ but that it received Luther's approval as 
the best possible arrangement under existing conditions is 
equally certain. In general outline it was similar to the plan 
prescribed for Eisleben, but with some modifications, chiefly 
making for greater simplicity, which were probably the result 
of experience in tlie former instances. It contemplated the 
founding of Latin schools in all the towns and villages of 
Saxony. And they were to be Latin schools in fact as well as 
in name ; no Greek, no Hebrew, not even a modicum of the 
mother-tongue, might find a place. Their chief function was 
to begin the preparation of boys for the university ; the final 
preparation of such ^' lads of pairts" as they discovered were 
provided for as the emergencies arose. 

The Saxony Latin schools had three classes or grades, each 
with rather indefinite time allotment. The lowest class was 

taught reading and writing from Melanchthon's 
^schoois.^" Latin primer ; the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, 

the Commandments, and a few classical selec- 
tions were committed to memory. The second class studied 
grammar, syntax and prosody. Latin reading, Terence and 
Plautus, and conversational practice were given considerable 
attention. Music and religious instruction occupied a more 
conspicuous position. The third class, having been thorough- 
ly drilled in Latin Grammar, read Vergil, Ovid and Cicero. 
They practised Latin declamations, made verses, and wrote 
letters and essays weekly. One day a week was devoted to 
religious instruction. 

The need of higher schools was soon felt. In the early 40 's 
three such schools were established by the state government 

and richly endowed with the possessions of sec- 
schuien.^'^ ulari^cd monasteries. The Furstenscliiilen, 

also called Landesschulen, of Pforta, Meissen 
and Grinima were the first schools erected in Germany, not for 
the benefit of the municipalities, but in the interests of state 
and church. To these schools young nobles preparing for 
political careers and poor boys looking to the ministry as a 
profession were admitted on equal footing. The entire sup- 



THE RISE OF PROTESTANT SCHOOLS 39 

port of likely boys was assured, a fact that had much to do 
with changing the attitude of parents, as remarked by Lu- 
ther, toward the higher education of their sons. 

The conduct of these schools seems to have been much in- 
fluenced by their monastic environment. The pupils lived 
in cells, ate and worked together, and w^ore a common habit. 
The masters, at least in some schools founded a little later 
on the same plan, were pledged to celibacy. The discipline 
was always severe, the rod being much in evidence ; little 
freedom was granted outside of the convent walls ; vacations 
were short and far between. In fact, these schools came as 
near being monastic schools as was possible under protestant 
rule. 

The Landesscliulen of Saxony stood theoretically midway 
between the Latin schools of the cities and the universities, but 
for many years the line of demarcation at either 

4- 1 1 T -r^ 1 1 1 Course of study. 

extreme was not sharply drawn. Lacli school 
strove to do the utmost in its power. The Latin schools in 
some instances became strong enough to extend their course 
beyond the three grades and offered elementary instruction 
in Greek, Hebrew and mathematics. Schools such as these, 
wherein at least two ancient languages were taught, have 
been known since about the middle of the sixteenth century 
as Gymnasien. The FilrstenschuUn, on the other hand, 
overlapped in many respects the university course. Admit- 
ting boys from the Latin schools at eleven to fifteen years of 
age, the curriculum of the higher schools included the three 
artes dice7idi — grammar, rhetoric and dialectic ; and the three 
ancient languages — Latin, Greek and Hebrew. The acquisi- 
tion of a pure and facile style was the aim of all instruction ; 
the means of its realization, chiefly the imitation of the clas- 
sical authors. Wherever possible a beginning was made of 
professional study ; not infrequently did the higher schools 
offer instruction in medicine, jurisprudence and theology. 

Notwithstanding the Kursdclisisclie Sclmlordnung was de- 
signed to encourage the founding of schools and to secure 
uniformity in aim and method, the Latin schools of Saxony 



4:0 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

did not meet the liigli expectations of their founders. Sup- 
ported by the municipal governments they were largely in- 
fluenced by local considerations. As a system of public 
schools the most that can be said is that it was a confederacy 
of interests held together by the substantial inducements 
offered in the Filrstenschulen and the universities. 

Wiirtemberg was the first German state to organize a com- 
plete system of public schools. In 1559 Melanchthon's plan, 
as tried in Saxony, but further modified and 

School System . , % i • ^i r^ i -rn 

of wiirtemburg, extended, was introduced m the Ducny. Jjor 
^^^^- the first time in Germany schools were pro- 
vided for all the people and in a series that permitted of 
orderly progression from the elementary grades to the uni- 
versities. And here was the real beginning of the common 
schools of Germany ; not a radical and independent begin- 
ning, to be sure, but the development of what already existed 
under the influence of new religious, intellectual and eco- 
nomic conditions. 

The Wilrttemiergische Schnlordmiug^ provided that in 

every village there should be an elementary school where both 

boys and girls should be taught reading, writ- 

Eiementary ^^-^g^ ^]^q ^y^ ^f reckoning, religion and singing. 

These schools were entirely in accord with 

Luther's idea that boys and girls should be taught for an 

hour or two each day the three K's and the catechism. Tlie 

only thing lacking was some means of compelling attendance. 

Each considerable tow^i and city was to have also a Partic- 
ular schule, a Latin school, with five or six classes according 

^ ,. „ , , to local needs. Here instruction should be 

Latin School. 

given six hours a day in reading, writing and 
speaking Latin. A little mathematics was included and in 
the last year the elements of Greek were taught. The curric- 
ulum was altogether humanistic, but with the addition of 
religion according to Luther's catechism. These schools were 
intended chiefly for the education of burghers, and as a 

^ Cf. Schiller, Geschichie der Pddagogik^ p. 102 ff. 



THE RISE OF PROTESTANT SCHOOLS 41 

matter of fact comparatively few students ever passed from 
these schools to the next higher grade. Nevertheless the 
way was open to graduates of the Latin schools to pass 
directly into the University of Tubingen and the Pcidago- 
gium of Stuttgart. These colleges — they could hardly be 
called universities — were higher schools attended principally 
by students in preparation for the civil ser- 
vice. For intending theologians thirteen clois- cloistral Schools 

o ^ ° for Clergy. 

tral schools were established^ on the plan of the 
Fiirstenscliulen of Saxony, to which graduates of the Latin 
schools were admitted on competitive examination. 

The school system of Wiirtemberg was in advance of the 
times. It was too comprehensive for effectual realization, but 
the experience of the Duchy taught Germany ^^^rtember ' 
how to provide instruction for all classes of so- Plan a Type 
ciety, how to make transition easy from one for others, 
school to another, and especially how to combine central con- 
trol with a fair share of local self-government. The rector of 
the college in Stuttgart had charge of the Land-Examen 
which regulated the admission of Latin-school pupils into the 
higher schools, while the immediate supervision of the schools 
rested with the mayors of the different towns and committees 
composed of ministers and citizens. All needy theological 
students received stipends in the cloistral schools, and a few 
young nobles of special promise were awarded scholarships at 
the university which in certain cases might be retained even 
during three or four years of study abroad. 

The example of Wiirtemberg was everywhere followed in 
protestant Germany. Even Saxony in 1580 made use of all 
the improvements that Wiirtemberg had de- 
vised and reformed her plan of 1528 to accord Sa^««ffo^°^« 

J- 01 1580. 

therewith. This date, 1580, indicates the high- 
water mark of the protestant schools as the products of the 
Renaissance and the Reformation ; after that, a period of 
transition, which is the subject of the following chapter. 

It is obvious that so many and such far-reaching reforms 
could never have been carried through without the loyal sup- 



42 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

port of many capable teachers and educationists. Melanch- 
thon^s students have already been mentioned as his trusty 
lieutenants. But of all the school-masters of the time John 
Sturm (1507-1589) of Strassburg was the most celebrated.^ 
He combined in himself all the important tendencies of the 
age. He was a humanist, and no humanist was ever more 
deeply impressed than he with the almightiness of the classi- 
cal languages ; he was a protestant of the Oalvinistic type, 
but in full sympathy with the Lutheran position ; he was a 
practical man of affairs, an experienced diplomat, at one 
time or another in the service of most of the leading Euro- 
pean courts ; he was an able teacher and organizer, if we can 
judge anything from his work in Strassburg. 

It matters little in this connection whether Sturm was 
merely the product of his age or whether he was in reality a 

creative genius. At any rate he had the ability 

to combine all the good points in school man- 
agement, as they were then conceived, and direct them sys- 
tematically toward the commonly accepted ends of education, 
sapiens atque eloquens pietas. Concerning the results attained 
it is enough to know that the Strassburg Oymnaskim, of 
which Sturm was rector for forty-three years after its foun- 
dation in 1538, became the most famous school in Europe. 
The dominant ideas of the sixteenth century were concen- 
trated in this school, and for two hundred years it remained 
the typical school of the '^'^good old times ^^ when schools 
were " what they ought to be.^^ 

Sturm provided for a ten years' course of study (only nine 
years' at first, later ten). His pupils entered at six years of 

age and immediately began the Latin grammar, 
^^^sf^d^^^ ^^ Seven years they laboured to acquire a correct 

and fluent use of the Latin tongue (Latinitas 
piirci)\ three years more were devoted to the acquisition of a 

' The best accounts of Sturm's work will be found in Schmidt's La vie 
et les travaux deJean Sturm, Strassburg, 1855, and in Itaas' Die PddagogiJc 
des Joh. Sturm, Berlin, 1872. 



THE RISE OF PROTESTANT SCHOOLS 43 

fine style {LatUiitas ornatct). Thus for ten years '^ Latin 
was exclusively taught, read, spoken, written, every clay four 
hours long." Sturm never seems to have doubted his ability 
to turn German boys back sixteen centuries ; his aim was to 
produce Ciceronian orators. Environment had nothing to do 
with the case ; all that was necessary was to Latinize it. And 
so in getting a vocabulary his boys were first taught the Latin 
names of every-day things and the commonest expressions of 
use in conversation. They were compelled to imagine them- 
selves Roman youths in an imaginary Roman atmosphere. 
Naturally enough under such conditions imitation was a virtue 
and a good memory the greatest of intellectual endowments. 
In fact, the reproduction of whole orations of Cicero and of 
whole books of Vergil, was a favourite exercise because of its 
value in strengthening the memory and in forming taste. 

How far the protestant schools toward the end of the cen- 
tury were now removed from the ideals of Erasmus and Me- 
lanchthon can be clearly seen in the case of 
Strassburg. We hear nothing more of ^^ con- scholastic hu- 
tent " or ^' substance ; " everything is ^^form," 
" style," " eloquence." To be sure, Sturm included Greek 
in his curriculum — six years of it — but both Greek and Latin 
were looked upon either as ends in themselves, so far as the 
school was concerned, or else as means to higher professional 
study of a nature demanding a knowledge of language and 
skill in its use. Sturm's curriculum contained no history, 
no mathematics, no natural sciences, and it is said that for 
thirty years no time was found to teach even the elements of 
arithmetic as scheduled for the two highest classes. 

But as a schoolmaster Sturm was a success. His curricu- 
lum accorded strictly with the educational ideals of his time, 
although we cannot fail to observe that the Reformation in 
emphasizing the value of the classical languages for biblical 
interpretation had strenghtened the worst element in the hu- 
manistic movement, the formal, '^' bookish" element. He 
introduced unity into the whole school-plan whereby the end 
that was desired might the more certainly be attained ; he 



4:4 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

made a clear-cut, logical arrangement of the materials wliich 
he used ; he proposed methods of teaching whereby the ma- 
terials of instruction were rendered of incalculably greater 
educational value. His entire scheme was a model of con- 
centration, both in subject-matter and methods of presenta- 
tion. In this respect Sturm's work remains unsurpassed. 

A glance at the pedagogical progress of the sixteenth cen- 
tury discloses marvellous changes in educational thought. 
First, the humanistic movement completely 
ummary. gj^attered within twenty years the scholastic 
traditions of centuries. The mediaeval Latin of the Church 
was replaced by the pure Latin of classical antiquity ; Greek 
was awarded a prominent place and Hebrew came in for a 
share of attention. Accurate translations of the classical 
writers, philosophers and scientists took the place of the fac- 
titious interpretations of the Middle Ages. Man's sympa- 
thies were broadened, his understanding of life enormously 
extended, and his mental attitude completely changed— all 
the result of careful investigation and the habit of appealing 
to the original sources for information. Next came the Ref- 
ormation, the logical consequence of the Renaissance, and 
with it a new view of life and new duties corresponding to 
the responsibilities now for the first time laid on individual 
consciences. The authority of the Church gave way to the 
authority of the Bible. To do God's will one must first know 
God's word, not as distorted by ignorant commentators, but 
as it is given in the original tongues. Scholarship must not 
perish from the earth if true religion is to remain. Schools 
are indispensable. But the chief end of the schools is by no 
means absorption in pagan learning ; the ability to use the 
classical languages is worth far more than the acquaintance 
with classical antiquity. Protestant schools were rapidly es- 
tablished to meet the requirements of Lutheranism ; but they 
were humanistic schools in fact, protestant only in theory. 
More than that they rapidly became state schools more or 
less closely fitted into a comprehensive system, supported in 
part by state funds and supervised by state authority. Both 



THE RISE OF PROTESTANT SCHOOLS 45 

within and without the protestant schools corresponded to 
the Zeitgeist ; but conditions obtained in the political and 
religious worlds, as well as in the pedagogical sphere, that 
rendered impossible any settled educational system. A pe- 
riod of transition was at hand. 

General References : — Voigt, Wiederhelehung cles classischen Alter- 
{hums ; Fisher, History of the Reformation ; Hiiiisser, Period of the Ref- 
ormation ; Bryce, Holy Roman Empire ; Bluntschli, Theory of the 
State ; Ranke, History of the Reformation in Germany ; Freytag, Bil- 
der aus der deutschen Vergangenheit and Neue Bilder aus dem Lelen des 
deutschen Volkes ; K A. Sclimid, Geschichte der Erziehung ; Schmidt, 
Geschichte der Pddagogik ; Rein, EncyJclopddisches Handbuch der Pad- 
agogik ; Ziegler, Geschichte der Pddagogik^ in Baumeister's Handbuch 
der Erziehungs- und Unterrichtslehre filr hohere Schulen. 



CHAPTER ITT 

THE PERIOD OF TRANSITION 

1618-1805 

The first decades of the sixteenth century saw the rise of 

protestant schools in Germany under the combined influences 

of the humanists and the reformers. The early 

Tendencies of i;ji^ji^^.inists had souffht out the ancicut classics 

Protestantism. ° 

for their spirit and content ; with an exalted 
idea of man they found in the old civilization a higher reali- 
zation of individual freedom than was offered in the mediaeval 
world. Lutheranism checked the growth of the humanistic 
movement. It converted intellectual and humanitarian in- 
terests into civil and religious interests. It turned man^s 
attention from the life of the past to life in the present as 
a preparation for the life that is to come. A knowledge of 
God^s word as found in the Greek and Hebrew Scriptures 
was of paramount importance both in shaping human ac- 
tion in this world and for the adequate appreciation of the 
glories of the next. Hence an acquaintance with the ancient 
languages was indispensable, but the pagan literatures of 
Greece and Eome, much more other records of these cor- 
rupt civilizations, were of little value, even if not positively 
harmful. 

The protestant schools of Germany, in their zeal for the ed- 
ucation of the clergy and the uplifting of the masses, had one 
pre-eminent aim, the promotion of a better and purer relig- 
ious life among the people and the salvation of human souls. 
How well they succeeded in alienating all classes from the 
Roman Church and establishing them in the protestant faith, 

46 



I 



THB PERIOD OF TRANSITION 47 

is best evidenced in tlie adoption of schools as the most effec- 
tive weapons of the Counter Kef orraation. Sturm could have 
received no greater compliment than was paid him by the 
Society of Jesus in incorporating so many of his methods 
into the new catholic schools. The Jesuits, in employing 
schools to check the growth of heresy and to win back to 
the Church apostate Germany, merely borrowed the devil's 
artillery to fight the devil with. And they used it to good 
effect. 

" In the year 1551 they [the Jesuits] had no settled posi- 
tion in Germany ; in 1566, their institutions held possession of 
Bavaria and the Tyrol, Franconia and Swabia, 
a large part of the Klienish provinces and Aus- R^formatioa 
tria. They had penetrated, also, into Hungary, 
Bohemia, and Moravia. The effect of their exertions soon 
became perceptible. So early as the year 1561 the papal 
nuncio declares that ^ they are winning many souls, and doing 
great service to the holy see." This was the first effectual 
counteraction of protestant labours, the first enduring im- 
pression made against them in Germany." ^ 

It is safe to say that the world has never seen a more 
powerful religious order than this Society of the Jesuits. 
Ranke finds the secret of its strength in its ex- 
treme military character. ^' For in the order of 
Jesuits, obedience takes the place of every motive or affection 
that usually awakens men to activity — obedience, absolute 
and unconditional, without one thought or question as to its 
object or consequences. No man shall aspire to any rank 
above that he holds. The secular coadjutor may not even 
learn to read or write without permission, if it happen that 
he do not possess these attainments. With the most unlimited 
abjuration of all right of judgment, in total and blind subjec- 
tion to the will of his superiors, must he resign himself to be 
led, like a thing without life, as the staff, for example, that 
the superior holds in his hand, to be turned to any purpose 

^ Ranke, History of the Popes^ I., 415, Bohn's Library. 



48 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

seeming good to him. The society is to liim as the represent- 
ative of the divine providence/^ ^ 

The success of the Jesuits can scarcely be credited to their 
learning or their piety, says Eanke, but rather to the exact- 
ness and nicety of their methods. ^^ With 

^''""jesm^ts*^^ them all was nicely calculated, every movement 
and action had its definite end and aim. Such 
a combination of learning sufficing to its purpose with un- 
wearying zeal, of studies and persuasion, of 2:>omp and ascet- 
icism, of widely extended influence and unity in the govern- 
ing principle and intention, has never been exhibited in the 
world before or since. At once diligent and visionary, worldly 
wise, yet full of enthusiasm ; well-bred men and attractive 
companions ; disregarding their personal interests, but labour- 
ing for the advancement of each other — we cannot wonder 
that they were successful.^^^ 

The three great lines of the order's activity, according to 
the plans of its founder, Ignatius Loyola, were preaching, 
confession — *^^for by this they were to hold the immediate 
guidance and government of consciences " — and the education 
of youth. And of these the last was the most important. 
" To gain the rising generation was among the purposes most 
earnestly pursued. They laid aside all secondary matters, 
devoting themselves wholly to such labours as were essential, 
of immediate result, and calculated for the extension of their 
influence.''^ 

The means which the Jesuits found most serviceable in the 
training of their own novices they soon carried into the edu- 
cation of others. The schools of the semi- 
protestant regions in which the society first 
began its work were pretty thoroughly tinctured with hu- 
manistic ideas — a mode of education that by the middle of 
the sixteenth century was by no means acceptable to Kome. 
Gradually the Jesuits found their way into all the schools and 
universities of the outlying provinces of Germany, and at the 

1 Ranke, History of the Popes^ I., 168. ^ j2,tc^., p. 417. 



THE PERIOD OF TRANSITION 49 

end of the century the protestant states were surrounded, 
except for the Baltic coast, by Jesuits lirmly intrenched in 
the educational institutions of the j^eople and at the courts 
of their rulers.^ 

Perhaps the real secret of the popularity of the Jesuit 
schools with the majority of the people was the fact that 
wherever one of their colleges was founded ^^no private per- 
son needed further to incur expense for the education of his 
children/'' Their instruction was altogether gratuitous ; the 
asking or receiving any remuneration whatsoever Avas strictly 
prohibited. And with children to instruct the Jesuits knew 
far better how to attain their ends than did the protestant 
school-masters of their time. We are told that '^ It was found 
that young people gained more with them in six months, 
than with other teachers in two years ; even protestants re- 
moved their children from distant schools, to place them 
under the care of the Jesuits. ^^ 

An extended discussion of the ideals of the Jesuits and of 
their methods of work is foreign to the purpose of this essay. 
Nevertheless it is impossible to i^fnore the in- ^ « 

^ _ ^ Influence of Jes- 

fluence of their teachings on the subsequent uits on school 
development of the German school system. System. 
First, because the schools of catholic Germany have re- 
mained almost as the Jesuits left them, even well into the 
present century ; and second, because the protestant schools, 
forced to recognize the superior skill of their adversaries, 
were gradually reformed the better to act on the defensive. 
Catholic and protestant schools alike at the beginning of 



' Zirngiebl, Studien iiber das Gesellschaft Jesu mit hesonderer Berikk- 
siclitigung der pddagogischen Wii'ksamkeit dieses Ordens in Deutschland^ 
Leipzig, 1870. Probably the most valuable work on this subject from 
the educational stand-point that has been published in German. Hughes, 
Loyola^ and the Educational System of the Jesuits, New York, 1892, is 
perhaps the most instructive book for English readers. The Ratio stu 
diorum et Institutiones sclwlasticcB Societatis Jesu (by Pachtler) will be 
found in Vols. II., V., IX. and XVI. of Kehrbach's Monumejita Ger- 
manice Pcedagogica. 
4 



50 GERMAN HIOHER SCHOOLS 

the seventeenth century gave little heed to the substance of 
the ancient civilization ; both alike were earnestly devoted 

to the study of the Latin language — the Jes- 
^rchStSm.^ uits, because it was the universal speech of 

their order ; the 23rotestants, because it was the 
first step toward a knowledge of Holy Writ. The Jesuits, 
too, made much of disputation and declamation in Latin as a 
means of formal discipline ; the protestants found them- 
selves increasingly engaged in theological discussion among 
themselves, an exercise no less destructive of peace than the 
encroachments of a rejuvenated Catholicism. The tendency 
was everywhere to neglect the study of Greek and Hebrew. 
So long as eloquence was the immediate aim of all instruction 
the imitation of Latin orators held a prominent place. At 
the turn of the century, however, teachers were inclined to 
content themselves with the Latin of philosophical and theo- 
logical compendiums. In fact, the petty jealousies among 
the protestants themselves and the aggressiveness of the 
Jesuits were giving rise to a new scholasticism. Scholars 
found themselves engulfed in a maelstrom of theological dis- 
putation ; all their energies were bent on building up or 
tearing down some dogma of the new faith. ^ 

It has already been noted that the natural tendency of the 
protestant schools was toward a formal study of the ancient 
languages, regardless of their cultural content. We now see 
how this formalism tended to develop into a rehabilitated 
scholasticism. Accompanying the revival of the old hair- 
splittings in the learned world, the shade of the mediaeval 
dialectic appeared in the schools. 

The result of the movement was on the one hand to ex- 
clude the masses of the people from all participation in the 
learning of the time, and on the other hand to alienate the 
sympathies of the nobility. The vague speculations of 
the scholars concerning philosophy and theology had no 

' Cf. Wakeman, Europe, 1598-1715^ London, 1894, pp. 39-52, on 
the Counter Reformation in Germany. 



THE PERIOD OF TRANSITION 51 

attractions for the upper classes, and for the lower classes 
it was all an unknown region. And just as in the Middle 
Ages the rise of scholasticism was accompanied by the growth 
of feudalism, so in the seventeenth century alongside of the 
new scholastic movement we find the nobility following ideals 
of its own. 

From about the middle of the sixteenth century the courts 
of western Germany had been more or less closely in touch 
with court life in France. German nobles affected the French 
language and aped French customs. They professed a liking 
for French literature.^ They sent their children to French 
schools or employed French tutors at home. Dissatisfaction 
with the education at home and admiration for everything 
foreign soon worked a complete change in the ideals of the 
German nobility. The highest ambition of the young noble 
was to become a " perfect cavalier." To know the latest 
Parisian fads, fashions and customs ; to know how to dance, 
fence and ride like a born Frenchman ; to be accomplished 
in speech and manner, — all this was of more importance than 
a knowledge of Latin or the art of disputation. French po- 
litical ideas readily found a place in many German states, 
and the ^' perfect cavalier " gradually came to need special 
preparation for civil and military service. The new ideal 
carried with it the desire for an acquaintance with math- 
ematics and physics and their practical applications. The 
new political sciences, political history, jurisprudence, geog- 
raphy and statistics, heraldry and genealogy, were all a part 
of the educational life of the galant homme. To be sure, 
the formal disciplines — religion, ethics, rhetoric and dialec- 
tics, were not altogether abandoned ; nor was Latin wholly 
supplanted by French and the other modern languages. 
But the fact is these old-fashioned studies were relegated to 



* Cf. Taylor's Studies in Germayi Literature^ New York, 1891, pp. 
167-199 ; Francke, Social Forces in German Literature^ p. 172 ff. ; 
Scherer, Geschichte der deutschen Litteratur^ 7th ed., Berlin, 1894, p. 
367 ff. 



52 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

places in the rear rank ; all that pertained to fine manners, 
practical conduct, and civil and military functions, came to 
the front. 

To satisfy the demands of this borrowed ideal of life, there 
arose schools designed to afford the means of cultivating and 

refining the German youth. This new school, 
^ Nobfes"^ thoroughly characteristic of the period in which 

it arose, was the Ritterakademie. It succeeded 
the reign of private tutors, and, established only in capital 
cities, it always remained a part of court life. A Collcgimn 
iUustre was established in Tubingen in 1589 for noble youths. 
In 1599 the Collegium Mauritianum was founded in Cassel, 
and in 1618 it was converted into a Ritterakademie — the first 
of its kind.^ These schools were the direct outgrowth of 
French influence, and manned mostly by French teachers 
they sought to extend the French ideals of life. In their 
way they were effective, but a still more effective way was at 
hand. It was war. 

The Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) was the culmination 
of the political and ecclesiastical com|)lications of the sixteenth 

century. The great schism struck a blow not 
'^^"^waT/'''''^^i^y at the Church of Rome but also at the 

Holy Koman Empire. The subsequent rise of 
national churches coextensive with the territorial areas of 
the several protestant states, and the designation of civil 
rulers as Lords of the Church or Defenders of the Faith, gave 
to petty princes a taste of power that they had not previously 
enjoyed. It weakened their allegiance to the Roman Em- 
peror at the same time that it rejected the supremacy of the 
Pope of Rome. But protestantism was unable at once to 
shake off the habits of centuries ; a church that stood pri- 
marily for freedom of conscience and individual reason soon 
became almost as intolerant as the body from which it had 
separated. This intolerance, quickened by the aggressiveness 
of the Jesuits and supported by political jealousies, at length 



'Paulsen, Geschiclite des Gelehrien Unterrichts^ p. 339. 



THE PERIOD OF TRANSITION 53 

plunged Germany into a cruel and horrible war. The hatred 
of a century's religious strife burst forth with uncontrollable 
fury in Bohemia and kindled a conflagration that lasted thirty 
years long. It was the gift of Jesuit intrigue and protestant 
intolerance to Europe. 

The conduct of the war on the one side was in the hands of 
men trained by the Jesuits to act on the belief that the end 
justifies the means, and on the other side it de- 
volved largely upon leaders actuated by French ^'caThonS^ 
ideals and inspired by Richelieu^s judicious 
grants of money from the French treasury. No wonder that 
at the end of the struggle the common people on both sides 
were well-nigh exterminated ! So cruel and relentless had 
been the war that a population of thirty millions was reduced 
to less than ten millions ; the country was laid waste, cities 
razed to the ground, homes made desolate ; want and poverty 
and starvation stared the German peasantry in the face ; too 
weak to stand alone and too poor to command assistance the 
common man became the prey of a conscienceless aristocracy. 
The destruction of trade and commerce by a war that had 
lasted a generation meant the decline of the free cities and 
the ruin of the burghers. The Peace of Westphalia (1648) 
made an end of war, but in making the princes absolute in 
their own petty dominions it also gave Germany over to feu- 
dalism, a " feudalism from which all the feelings that once en- 
nobled it had departed." Germany instead of being an em- 
pire was a jumble of two or three hundred principalities, 
'^ each with its own laws, its own court (in which the cere- 
monious pomp of Versailles was faintly reproduced), its little 
army, its separate coinage, its tolls and custom-houses on the 
frontier, its crowd of meddlesome and pedantic officials, pre- 
sided over by a prime minister who was generally the un- 
wortliy favourite of his prince and the |)ensioner of some 
foreign court." ^ 

' Cf. Bryce, TIolu Roman Empire^ chap, xix. On the life of the German 
peasant, see Freytag's Pictures of German Life^ second series, translated 
by Mrs. Malcolm, Loudon, 18G3, I., 9-77. 



54 GERMAN HIOHEB SCHOOLS 

The school that withstood the ravages of the Thirty Years' 

War, that had pupils and could pay teachers, was, indeed, a 

strong one. The great majority of educational 

^thTschooV^ institutions, universities and secondary schools 
included, went to the wall, or were so weakened 
as to be scarcely recognizable.^ And when the war was over 
the dearth of funds and pupils left many of the survivors in 
a precarious condition. But worse yet, there was little de- 
mand on the part of those still interested in education for the 
education of the typical German school, whether protestant 
or catholic. Now, even more than in the period before the 
war, the nobility turned away from poor, devastated, wretched 
Germany to the splendor of a foreign culture. The brilliancy 
of the Court of Louis XIV. dazzled all eyes and seemed the 
one thing desirable in a gloomy age. The French language 
became the polite speech; French literature was eagerly 
sought after, and it carried with it an interest in Italian, 
Spanish and English ; French customs and manners were a 
considerable part of the galaut homnie. 

For the realization of these ideals a new scheme of educa- 
tion was bound to develop. Schools for nobles (the common 
Revival of peoplc had no share in the prevailing fad for 

Schools for things Frciich) were an imperative necessity.^ 

Nobles. Hence the revival of the Ritterahademien. 

During the last half of the seventeenth century and the first 

quarter of the eighteenth, the really influential schools of 

' For a picture of the condition of the schools, see Reuss, 31. Samuel 
Gloner ein Strasshurger Lehrerhild aus den Zeiten des dreisigjdhrigen 
KriegeSf Strassburg, 1888. 

^ One of the earliest announcements of the course of study in the French 
Gymnasium of Berlin, founded about 1690, runs as follows : " Die 
Frantzosische und Italianische Sprache, durch deren Gebrauch und durch 
die Grammatische Regeln zu erlernen, wie auch die Teutsche Sprache fiir 
die Frombden. — Das Tantzen. — Das Fechten.— Die Exercitien mit der 
Pique, mit der Mousquet und mit der Fahne. — Die Vocal- und Instru- 
mental-Music. — Die Geographic. — Die Fortification. — Die Bau-Kunst. — 
Die Mahlerey, — Die Perspective. — Die Zeichenkunst, nach den Principien, 
wie sie insgemein unterwiesen werden muss. — N.B. Der Autor erbietet 



THE PERIOD OF TRANSITION 55 

Germany were these schools in which the masses of the peo- 
ple had no interest — schools utterly devoid of sincere religion 
and honest patriotism. The common schools of the people 
were well-nigh extinct. The Gymnasien and Latin schools 
went begging for scholars, except as they could offer free 
places and substantial benefits to applicants. The entire 
school system of protestant Germany, schools for nobles ex- 
cepted, was manipulated in the interests of a church that 
had been tried as by fire, and if its temper were not just per- 
fect it was doubtless the result of over-heating. 

The schools and universities of Germany — yes, of all 
Europe as well — between 1625 and 1725 were not the work- 
shops of the leaders of thought. It is signifi- 
cant that the philosophers— Bacon (1561-1620), ^'unrrsitfef ' 
Hobbes (1588-1679), Descartes (1596-1650), 
Locke (1632-1704), Spinoza (1632-1677) and Leibnitz (1646- 
1710) ; and the scientists— Harvey (1578-1657), Boyle (1627- 
1691), Huygens (1629-1693) and Newton (1642-1727)— almost 
without exception were rarely, or never at all, in touch with 
university life ; they were men of the world, interested in the 
practicaj workings of Man and Nature and the State, and 
largely dependent their lives long on the bounty of lords and 
princes whose satellites they chose to be. 

Leibnitz, better than anyone else, represents the tendency 
of the age in Germany. A bitter opponent of the formalism 



sicli, die Zeichen-Kiinst auff eine gantz sonderbahre Art zu informiren, so 
vermittelst eines Instruments geschieht, welches er erfunden hat. — Er 
verpflichtet sich, den Gebrauch dieses Instruments in kurtzer Zeit den 
jenigen, so niemahls Zeichen gelernet, zu zeigen, also das sie allerhand 
Sachen, als Landschafften, Stadte, Dorffer, Schlosser, in Summa alles, 
was sich dem Gesichte unbeweglich prasentiren wird, eben so wol als die 
besten Mahler soUen abzeichen konnen. — Die Arithmetic. — Die Frantz- 
osische, Italianische und Teutsche Schreib-Kunst.— Die Hofflichkeit und 
andere Sachen mehr, welche theils nohtig, theils curios seyn, und die als 
dann, wann man einen guten Fortgang in den oberwehnten sehen wird, 
benennet werden sollen." (From the history of the Franzbsisches Gymr 
nasium, Berlin, in the Festschrift^ 1890.) 



56 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

of the schools, almost as much a Frenchman as a German, a 
go-between in religion, he sought by attaching himself to 

influential courts, rather than from a profes- 
^f th^ Tim^r ^^^''^ chair, to accomplish his mission. He was 

much interested in education ; he wrote peda- 
gogical treatises, outlined school curricula, and introduced 
school reforms. But in it all he worked from the outside ; 
he was at home only in the Ritterakademien and for them he 
did good service. He valued Latin highly, but lamented that 
so much time was wasted in its acquisition. There are so 
many other things to learn, he declared, some of them valu- 
able in themselves, others because custom makes them so ; 

but in every instance that which makes a thing 

worth knowing is its utility, its worth in prac- 
tical life. It matters not whether the study be etiquette or 
statute law, philology or history, politics or natural science, 
its place in the curriculum must be determined by the needs 
of the pupils in relation to the demands of public life. Logic, 
mathematics, physics and geography are indispensable ; the 
ability to speak well and to appear well in good society are 
second in importance only to the ability to reason well.^ The 
23oetry and eloquence of the Latin schools, their barren phil- 
osophy and endless theological controversies, deserve no part 
in the education of a gentleman. So far did French influ- 
ence carry the leading tliinker of the century away from all 
that was truly German. 

Closely connected with the introduction of French views 

of life into German society was the movement toward a ra- 

Eationaiistic tioualistic philosophy and scientific method. 

Philosophy and As for method the early humanists had de- 

scientific Method. j^Q^g^j,^^^^ the value of inductive research; 

they had appealed from scholastic authority to the original 
sources. But in proving the utter futility of speculative in- 
quiry as a means of reaching truth, they had, recourse to the 
wisdom of the ancients, and by it they were held entranced. 

' Cf. Paulsen, Geschichte des Gelehrten Unterrichts , p. 336. 



THE PERIOD OF TRANSITION 67 

The perfection that they beheld seemed to them absolutely 
complete ; the whole duty of fallen man, it was argued, was 
to regain paradise and hold fast to it. Hence the devotion 
to the literary master-pieces of Greece and Rome, for they 
contained the words of the perfect life. Hence the ceaseless 
round of imitation in the schools, the attempt to blot out 
the Middle Ages and to live the life of the past in the pres- 
ent. 

French scepticism and English common-sense could not 
countenance idolatry even at Minerva^s shrine. Bacon, 
grasping the full significance of the inductive method, boldly 
turned from the past to the present and future. Descartes 
ably demonstrated that there is something even in modern 
man worthy of respect. Progress, not stagnation, was their 
motto. The invention of the compass and the telescope had 
already supplied the means of getting at a new heaven and a 
new earth. The Belgian Vesale (1553) and the Englishman 
Harvey (1628) afforded a new view of man. Columbus and 
Kepler and Galileo prepared the way for the scientific ad- 
vance of the seventeenth century. 

Bacon's aphorism that '' we must lead men to the par- 
ticulars themselves, and their series and order ; while men 
on their side must force themselves for awhile to lay 
their notions by and begin to familiarize themselves with 
facts,'" was echoed by Descartes when he told the queen 
of Sweden, pointing to a skeleton, ^^Here are my books.'' 
This was the spirit that directed the advance of the posi- 
tive sciences ; it based reasoning solely on the observation 
of facts ; no authority save the authority of reason was ac- 
cepted. 

The scientific movement in Germany aroused by the dis- 
coveries of Kepler, began to make itself felt in the early 
years of the seventeenth century. Jungius, a T^e First Nat- 
professor in Rostock, founded in 1619 a Nat- urai Science As- 
ural Science Association whose purpose was eociation. 
''to free from sophistry all the arts and sciences that are 
dependent on reason and experience, to lead them back to 



58 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

demonstrative certainty, and to expand them by correct ex- 
perimentation and fortunate discoveries/^^ It was the nat- 
ural reaction against the extreme formalism into which the 
Latin schools of the country, protestant and catholic alike, 
were falling. 

The ideals of the scientists soon found a reception in the 

schools of the nobles — at least in so far as such ideals were 

capable of practical realization. On the other 

Influence on the t -,,-,',••,■,■, ■, . ^ 

Schools hand the classical schools have never since been 
entirely free from the influences that the scien- 
tific movement then first brought to bear on them. In the 
Ritterakademien it meant the admission of mathematics and 
physics and other Realie^i into the curriculum ; in the classi- 
cal schools it suggested reforms in method and a revival of 
the true religious S2:)irit. 

The first man to offer himself as mediator between the 
humanists and the advocates of the positive sciences was 
Comenius (1592-1671). He was himself a 
humanist in his respect for Latin, a realist in 
his admiration for Bacon and the empirical philosophy, a 
religionist in that he believed the supreme aim of education 
— and life as well — is ''^eternal happiness in and with God.^' 
Hence he, even more than his forerunner Ratke, emphasized 
the need of reform in language teaching ; and as for Latin, 
while indispensable, it must be learned quickly in order that 
time may be had for the serious business of life. What a 
man most needs to know, next to a knowledge of God and 
of his own nature, is the natural environment in which he 
lives. It is possible, so argued Comenius, to get considera- 
ble information about things while learning words ; in fact, 
words are valuable only when learned in connection with 
things, as the signs of things or ideas. In thus econo- 
mizing time and energy life is prolonged and man the better 
fitted for eternity. In order to teach school-masters their 
business Comenius wrote his famous series of text-books 

' Paulsen, Geschiclite des Gelehrten Unterrickts^ j). 306. 



THE PERIOD OF TRANSITION 59 

that perpetuated his ideas when the man himself was for- 
gotten. 1 

Oomenius served the cause of the ultra-realists in thus 
exposing the defects in the prevailing methods of teaching 
Latin and the utter uselessness of learning His semceB to 
mere words. Even Sturm had taught the Secondary Edu- 
classic authors chiefly for the purpose of illus- cation, 
trating grammatical and rhetorical rules. Both Eatke and 
Comenius looked upon the Latin language like the vernacu- 
lar, as a living, organic whole. And as such they consid- 
ered it only one of many spheres of empirical knowledge. 

The intensely religious character of Comenius gained him 
many sympathizers among those protestants who remained 
true to the original spirit of the Keformation. The formal- 
ism of the Lutheran Church, its subserviency to Aristote- 
lianism and the scholastic philosophy, was not a pleasing 
prospect to believers in practical piety. They believed that 
religion was an affair of the heart as well as of the head, that 
true religion involved not only a knowledge of God^s word 
but also a disposition to cherish and obey divine commands. 
The reaction against protestant formalism slowly ripened 
into the movement known as Pietism, of which Spener and 
Francke were the most distinguished representatives. The 
gospel of love and benevolence as preached by these men 
contrasted strangely with the theological dissensions of the 
times. It is to their credit that they upheld the worth of 
the inner life in an age given over to externalism. 

Pietism had nothing in common with the scientific move- 
ment, except its uncompromising opposition to the scho- 
lasticism of school and church. Rationalism 
— worldly, aristocratic and cultured — was the 
obverse of pietism. It was the logical outcome of scientific 

^ The standard work on Comenius in English is Laurie's Comenius : Bis 
Life and Educational Wo7-ks. Quick's Essays on Educational Reformers 
gives a good account of his work. See also the Educational Review^ New 
York, Vol. III. 



60 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

inquiry and the appeal to facts within the reach of observa- 
tion and reason. Pushing in from the west^ it found sup- 
porters at the courts and among the nobility ; before the end 
of the seventeenth century it had become the dominant mode 
of thought among the ruling classes of Germany. It in- 
spired the entire eighteenth century with a joyous conscious- 
ness of its own power ; it spoke with pride of what had been 
accomplished^ and looked forward with enthusiastic hope to 
the future. Its culmination in the Enlightenment was the 
full fruition of the hope of the early humanists ; it was the 
extreme limit of individualism. 

Both pietism and rationalism were unfavourable to hu- 
manistic studies. Pietism looked upon them as dangerous ; 
rationalism, as unnecessary. Both movements 
turned away from the past. The pietists would 
live a holy life in the present, a life of praise and prayer and 
supplication, for the sake of an eternal reward in heaven ; 
the rationalists, unwilling to believe that the bounds of knowl- 
edge were fixed by the ancients, and unable to find any basis 
in reason for implicit faith in the glories of a life to come, 
devoted themselves wholly to the joys of the present. Under 
the influence of French court life the latter part of the 
seventeenth century saw the introduction into Germany of 
a profligacy and libertinism utterly foreign to its own civil- 
ization. But sensual indulgence, excused on philosophic 
grounds, played an important part in weakening the grasp of 
the nobility on the middle classes. The rise of the demo- 
cratic spirit toward the end of tlie eighteenth century was 
made possible if not actually promoted by the hideous cor- 
ruption in high places. Rationalism was essentially liberal 
and liberalizing ; and if occasionally it plunged weaklings 
into dissipation, it gave strong-minded men the impulse to 
free themselves from the thraldom of tradition and authority. 
Moreover, in the intellectual sphere, it did not immediately 
set up a standard of its own to which reason must conform ; 
it left each man free to follow his own bent ; it offered a fair 
field and no favour. Science cut loose from the Greeks ; phil- 



THE PERIOD OF TRANSITION 61 

osophy and political economy and jurisprudence assumed a 
modern aspect ; even the dry bones of the church, both 
evangelical and catholic, began to feel the stir of life under 
the combined attacks of atheism and pietism. 

The foundation of the University of Halle (1694) ushered 
in the new era in German life. In Halle, Thomasius and 
Francke, both of whom had been expelled from ^^^ university 
the orthodox University of Leipsic because of ofHaiieand 
their too liberal ideas, joined hands in opposing Lehrfreiheit. 
the old spiritual order. Thomasius was a type of the per- 
fect cavalier; Francke was the leading pietist of the day. 
Francko's influence dominated the theological faculty; Tho- 
masius was supreme in the rest of the University. That one 
and the same institution could harbour two such men and 
assure them freedom of action was the most significant fact 
in the whole matter. It was the beginning of Lehrfreiheit 
in Germany, and for that reason Halle is counted the first 
really modern university. It stood for freedom of teaching 
modern subjects in a modern tongue and according to modern 
methods. 

The atmosphere of Halle was conducive to the growth of 
a modern philosophy. Christian Wolff, professor from 1707 
to 1723 and again from 1740 to 1754, was the 
first who succeeded in making "philosophy ^""^op™*""' 
speak German. ^^ His system was the first to 
supersede Aristotelianism, and it was so well received that it 
dominated the German schools till the advent of Kantianism. 
" Nothing without sufficient cause " was its ruling principle. 
^' It aimed no longer to be ancilla theologies, but without 
prejudice sought after truth, and mathematics and the natu- 
ral sciences in their modern form composed its foundation. 
And in equal degree it disclaimed all transcendental author- 
ity for morals and for law, basing them exclusively upon the 
nature of man and of society."^ 

It was no mere accident that the period of Enlightenment 

^ Paulsen, German Universities^ New York, 1895, p. 60. 



62 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

in Germany was coincident with the reign of Frederick the 
Great. On ascending the throne he announced that his mis- 
sion was *'to further the country's well-being, 

Frederick the ^^^ ^^ make evcryone of our [his] subjects 
happy." The character of the whole forty-six 
years of his reign was clearly indicated in the principal acts of 
the first week/ viz., the abolition of legal torture in criminal 
trials, an order looking to more equitable administration of 
the laws, a (partial) guarantee of the freedom of speech and 
of the press, the enunciation of the principle of religious 
toleration, and the encouragement of independent, scientific 
research. ^^AU religions must be tolerated," he declared, 
'^ for in this country every man must get to heaven in his 
own way." In giving orders for the immediate recall of 
Wolff, who had been banished by Frederick's father at the 
instigation of the pietists, the King said, " A man that seeks 
truth, and loves it, must be reckoned precious in any human 
society." In his efforts to resuscitate the Berlin Academy he 
urged M. de Maupertuis to leave Paris and " come and in- 
sert into this wild crab-tree the graft of the sciences, that it 
may bear fruit." 

This period, under the leadership of so enlightened a 

prince, embodied and united all the forces that were making 

for a new spiritual and social life. The nation- 

His Reforms. i • •< j^- t p p • i. 

al spirit was stirred ; forms of misgovernment 
were abolished and economical administration introduced. 
The resources of the country were developed, industries of 
all kinds encouraged, the territory extended by fortunate 
conquests and the army increased to formidable proportions. 
In a word, the electorate of Brandenburg was now become 
the kingdom of Prussia, a kingdom not only in name, but a 
recognized power in European politics. 

It has been said that in the Enlightenment '^'^an effort was 
made to raise man, so far as he is a rational individual, into 
a position of supremacy over everything."^ Two dominant 

' Of. Carlyle, Frederick the Great, X., 231-261. 
2 Erdmann, History of Philosophy, I., 283. 



THE PERIOD OF TRANSITION 63 

motives determined all action in tliis direction : (1) the per- 
fection of the individual, and (2) the mastery over environ- 
ment. These two ideas also entered into the ^ru m ,, .. 

The Two Motives 

educational ideals of the time, and directed of the Eniight- 
the development of the school system. The enment. 
one was essentially humanistic as pertaining to the per- 
fection of the liuman subject ; the other was essentially 
realistic as pertaining to the control of things in the ob- 
jective world. The Courtly-French ideal, at least as for- 
mulated by Leibnitz, embodied both notions, and for this 
reason it is often considered the typical educational ideal of 
this transition period. But it is equally certain that in the 
great undercurrent of German thought the two ideas were 
but loosely joined. They held together at first for prudential 
considerations in the face of united opposition from State 
and Church, but they quickly differentiated when each could 
maintain itself alone. Humanistic ideas had never been en- 
tirely expelled from the schools and universities, but through- 
out the seventeenth century they were inactive and uninflu- 
ential. It was not till toward the middle of the eighteenth 
century that they again became dynamic and exercised a 
power in the educational world. 

We have already noted the growth of the sciences and the 
spread of the scientific spirit in Germany. In accord with 
this spirit Ratke and Comenius emphasized the 
study of things ; natural science, physics, math- of En^^rfnmenf. 
ematics, history, and the mother-tongue, all 
deserve a place in the curriculum on a par with the classical 
languages. In fact, Latin and Greek, like the rest, are valu- 
able only for practical purposes. Weigel (1625-1G99), a pro- 
fessor in the University of Jena, and Eeyher, rector of the 
Gijmnasiwn in Gotha and author of the famous Saxe-Gotha 
Schulordnung of 1642, worked assiduously for the reform of 
the Latin schools in the realistic sense. Francke (1663-1727) 
was no sooner settled in Halle than he began the foundation 
of that remarkable group of schools and charitable institutions 
which still bears his name. All Francke's schools, especially 



64 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

those for the common people, were strongly pietistic. The 
study of the Bible and the catechism, the learning of hymns 
and prayers, and participation in religious exercises, were the 
all-important part of the curriculum ; nevertheless three hours 
a day were devoted in the lower schools to secular subjects, 
and in the higher schools the course was determined by the 
requirements for admission to the university. But however 
much Francke was hampered in the development of his higher 
schools by the traditional demands of the universities, he 
managed to find a place for geography, liistor}^, mathematics 
and French, and by a judicious use of '^ recreation hours " he 
succeeded in introducing his pupils to nature study and man- 
ual training. 

Francke had the rare ability to see clearly what needed 
doing and then to do it regardless of obstacles or consequences. 
Francke and '^^^^ magnitude of his work in Halle is simply 
Realistic Educa- marvcllous, and yet what he actually accom- 
^^°^' plished is insignificant in comparison with what 

he inspired others to do.^ He showed how practical Chris- 
tianity could be incorporated in the work of the common 
schools ; his plan was immediately adopted by Frederick Will- 
iam I. and made well-nigh universal in Prussia. He showed 
how the Realien could be profitably employed in a Latin 
school, and even made a constituent part of a university pre- 
paratory course ; as a result of his metliods, and especially of 
his suggestion that schools should be founded for the exclu- 
sive purpose of fitting the youth of the citizen class for prac- 
tical life, there has since grown up in Germany a class of 
i?ert?-schools. Herein Francke acted in conformity with the 
rationalistic spirit of his times. Whatever may have been his 
opinion of the RitteraTcademie as an institution for the prac- 
tical training of the nobility, he certainly believed in the 
wisdom of a practical training for the learned professions, for 
the business occupations of the citizen class, and for the needs 
of the people generally. The i?e«Z-school, therefore, is the 

* Frickj Die Franckeschen Stiftungen^ 1892. 



THE PERIOD OF TRANSITION 65 

direct response to the educational ideal that lays special em- 
phasis on the mastery of environment. It is the outgrowth 
of one phase of the rationalistic mode of thought. 

Francke's efforts in Halle were seconded by Semler, one of 
WeigeFs students, who was the first to establish a school in 
which the Realioi took first place. ^ His idea 

, , . . , ^ ., „ , ^, The Real Schools. 

was to give manual training to pupils irom both 
the common and the Latin schools. Semler's plan was alto- 
gether impracticable, but his dream was destined to be realized 
by Hecker, a clergyman who had served an apprenticeship as 
teacher in Francke's orphan school. In 1747 he established 
in Berlin an " oehonomisch-matheuiatische Realschule " for the 
higher training of those pupils who had no intention of enter- 
ing the learned professions. Instruction was offered in re- 
ligion and ethics, the German, French and Latin languages, 
writing, arithmetic, drawing, history, geography, and the 
elements of geometry, mechanics and architecture. An im- 
portant feature of the founder's plan was a series of optional 
courses designed to give pupils an insight into the practical 
workings of the various trades and occupations of burgher 
life. 

The success of Hecker's undertaking was assured almost 
from the start. With the hearty approval of Frederick the 
Great there was little difficulty in putting the institution on 
a permanent basis and in winning popular support. The 
school was soon overrun with pupils, and additional facilities 
were demanded. Moreover, the plan found numerous imita- 
tors outside of Berlin. Within a few years all the flourishing 
commercial centres of Germany were supplied with Real- 
schools occupying a position in the school system midway 
between the common schools and the classical Gymnasien. 

The pedagogical character of the Real-^ohool was estab- 
lished by Basedow and his followers. Originally the plan 
was to provide for the middle classes what would be called 

^ Heubaum, Chrisioph Semlers Realschule und seine Beziehung zu A. 
II. FrancTce in Neue Jahrhilcher filr Philologie und Pddagogih^ 1893. 



66 GERMAIN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

nowadays manual training schools in which the scientific 
principles underlying the various trades and business voca- 
tions should have a prominent place. These 

"^c^TcharaXr' schools wcrc to be one step removed from the 
trade schools for the lower classes. But under 
the influence of the Philanthropinists the 7?e«/-school was 
transformed into a modern humanistic school and placed in 
competition with the humanistic Gyimiashmi. The wisdom 
of such a step may be questioned from the fact that for half 
a century the i^m/-school was held in check. The only 
advantage gained was the demonstration that almost any 
kind of instruction was preferable to the antiquated Latin 
school with its scholastic methods and dreary round of Latin 
imitation. 

The utilitarian conceptions of the rationalistic view of life 
found complete expression in the conventional training of the 

„ ^. . . Ritterahademie and in the Real-School.^ They 

Reaction Against , . . 

the Formalism represent the reaction m the pedagogical sphere 

of the Latin against the empty, sterile doo^matism of the pre- 
Schools. °,. /- ^[ . ^^ ^ n . 

ceamg age. As champions oi the new learning 

and modern culture they were the fittest representatives of an 

^'enlightened'^ educational ideal, and their triumph would 

doubtless have been com23lete had not another force gained the 

ascendancy at the very hour of victory. This new force was 

likewise a part of the rationalistic movement, but instead of 

^ The building up of great national governments during this period 
necessitated large military operations. These required large forces of men 
and great funds of wealth. The feudal system no longer supplied the one, 
nor could royal domains, however vast, supply the other. National gov- 
ernments and armies necessitated taxation in order to secure the funds of 
precious metals. Industrial and commercial activities alone could bear 
this burden. In order to foster industry and commerce, the welfare of the 
masses must be secured and their capacities developed. Hence, the 
Realschule. The attitude of mind which revealed itself on the economic 
side as mercantilism, on the educational side revealed itself as a realistic 
tendency. Cf. Ingram, History of Political Economy^ New York, 1894, 
pp 36-54. Cossa, Introduction to the Study of Political Economy^ Lon- 
don, 1893, pp. 193-210. 



THE PERIOD OF TRANSITION 67 

making for practical utility in commonplace life it tended 
toward the perfection of man as a free, rational individual. 
In other words, the growth of the democratic spirit came in 
to check the development of institutions calculated to perpet- 
uate the existing social order and to intensify prevailing class 
distinctions. 

Notwithstanding the efforts made by the early humanists to 
exalt the individual by striking olf the fetters of obsolete tra- 
dition, a hundred years of religious fanaticism left him even 
more than before the sport of despotic power. The anarchy 
of the Thirty Years' War was followed by an absolutism that 
was as inquisitorial as it was petty. The spirit of the people, 
crushed by a generation of disaster, was still further op- 
pressed by the exactions of relentless task-masters. Litera- 
ture and art and religion were enslaved to aristocratic vanity. 
What of hope there was for freedom hardly dared express 
itself for a full hundred years. Yet it would be misleading 
if this state of affairs were interpreted as furnishing no evi- 
dences of progress. 

In politics the little electorate of Brandenburg stepped into 
a unique position ; transformed into the kingdom of Prussia 
under Frederick I. (1688-1713), it became am- 
bitious to be counted among the independent 
states of Europe. It was an absolute monarchy, to be sure, bat 
then as now the rule of the Hohenzollerns subordinated all 
pretensions of the aristocracy and privileged classes to the 
higher interests of the commonweal. 

From the time of the Great Elector to Frederick the Great 
there was certain if slow progress in the alleviation of the 
burdens of the peasantry ; the citizen class gradually regained 
an enviable position as the growth of the cities and political 
stability made trade and commerce more safe and profitable ; 
and at the same time the scions of nobility were gathered into 
the army or left to exterminate themselves by their own de- 
bauchery. The century following the peace of Westphalia 
was the seed-time of political and social reforms. The idea 
that the welfare of a nation is best subserved when its citizens 



68 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

are contented and happy has as its counterpart the idea that 
the welfare of the whole presupposes the well-being of all its 
parts. In teaching the masses of the people to respect them- 
selves as rational beings, as free moral agents, the seeds of 
democracy were sown from which a harvest was reaped at a 
later day. 

The growth of an independent spirit is also clearly discern- 
ible in the literature of the period. During the seventeenth 
century, despite the example of the reformers, 

S'^^endent s^rit' *^^® ^^^^ ^^ *^^® German language was an evidence 
of boorishness. The scholars spoke Latin ; the 
nobles, French. Nevertheless just at this time Ratke and 
Oomenius threw all their influence on the side of the mother- 
tongue ; a society was formed in 1617, with the Prince of 
Anhalt at its head, for the purpose of promoting ^' good and 
pure German speech ; " Thomasius dared to use the German 
language in his class-room in Leipsic even at the risk of exile ; 
and a little later Wolff shocked the learned world by treating 
philosophy in the vernacular. And while the belles-lettres of 
this period '^ were the most depraved and abject mockery that 
has ever usurped the name of literature," ^ there was never- 
theless a deep undercurrent of native independence. In the 
religious lyrics of Fleming and Gerhardt a strong and manly 
sentiment was aroused that despised the vice and frivolity of 
the princely courts, and ^^from more than one solitary coun- 
try parsonage there shone forth a light which in due time 
was to mingle with the dawning of a better day." Keen 
satirists reawakened an interest in the homely German life 
by exposing the follies of French imitators, and in the mass 
of rubbish called literature there might occasionally be found 
a genuine expression of the emotions of a heart pulsating 
with hope. Poor as it may have been, the best there was in 
literature came from the common people. In the spread of 
individualism class distinctions were being levelled down. 
English public opinion, English philosophy and English lit- 

' Francke, Social Forces in German Literature^ New York, 1896, p. 187. 



THE PERIOD OF TRANSITION 69 

eratnre, which were carried through France into Germany 
about the middle of the eighteenth century, re-enforced the 
democratic movement and inspired the middle classes to 
heroic effort. Then there arose from the ranks of the people 
master workmen in prose and verse, who put the ideas of the 
people in enduring form. Klopstock, Gellert, Lessing, Herder, 
Kant, Fichte, Goethe and Schiller — all rising from the ranks 
— overthrew French classicism and built on its ruins the 
stately edifice of classic German literature. 

The '^ Storm and Stress " agitation, which marked the 
concentration of forces that had been gathering for a century 
or more, disclosed to Germany a new aristocracy, a nobility 
of worth instead of a nobility of birth. If bloodshed was 
averted it was because the old order recognized in the new 
its legitimate suzerain. Hereditary rights and jj r^j^^ Perfec 
privileges counted for naught as compared with tion of the hu- 
individual character. ^^ The ideal of human ^^nType. 
perfection which inspired the movement was not man as 
a social being, dependent upon and determined by the force 
of surrounding conditions, but man as such, man lifted 
above the barriers of his political, social, moral environ- 
ment, man in the full autonomy of his own free, spiritual 
nature.''' ^ In this passionate devotion to the human subject 
the objective world was ignored, nay, even argued out of ex- 
istence except as it exists as a show- world for the creative 
self. Humanity in its largest sense was the characteristic 
theme of the age. Nothing that concerns man, nothing that 
enters into his life at all, nothing that gives him deeper ex- 
perience, truer insight, nobler emotions, purer character, can 
be unworthy of study and investigation. Says Herder, the 
greatest preacher of the gospel of humanity : ^' Whatever be- 
longs to the nature of our race, every possible means of its 
improvement and progress, this is the object which a humane 
man has in mind, this is the centre of his work. Since our 
race must work out its own destiny, none of its members has 

^ Francke, Social Forces in German Literatures^ p. 317. 



70 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

a right to be idle in this work. Everyone must take part in 
the weal and woe of the whole, everyone must willingly sacri- 
fice his share of reason, his mite of activity, to the genius of 
the race. No one, however, can contribute to the welfare of 
mankind who does not make himself what he can and ought 
to be made. Everyone, therefore, must cultivate the seed of 
humanity, most of all on the bed where he himself is planted. 
We all carry in us an ideal of what we ought to be and are 
not. The dross which we ought to cast away, the perfec- 
tion which we ought to attain, we all know. And since we 
can become what we ought to be only through ourselves 
and others from whom we receive or whom we affect, our 
own humanity necessarily becomes at one with the humanity 
of others.'''' ^ 

Herder and Kant, Goethe and Schiller, stand at the part- 
ing of the ways. They represent the best that individualism 
has to offer without its serious defects ; they are products of 
a rationalistic age without sharing overmuch in its sensual 
realism ; but at the same time they look on life as an organic 
whole, a whole made up of parts all harmoniously working 
for the common good. While they glorify freedom, hu- 
manity, individuality, they find the perfection of the indi- 
vidual, and of humanity as well, in the perfection of the 
national type. In Kant's categorical imperative, " Act as if 
the maxim from which you act were to become through your 
will a universal law of nature," we see the moral injunction 
that converts eighteenth century particularism into nine- 
teenth century nationalism. 

What more natural than that there should be a ^^ return to 

the Greeks " in quest of the perfect realization of the human 

idea ! The versatility of the Greek type, the 

^^^\^^^'" fearlessness and subtlety of Greek thought, the 

exquisite beauty of Greek art, the clear, exact, 

expressive character of the Greek language, fill the German 

' Herder, Briefe zur Beforderung der Humanitdt^ III. Cited by 
Erancke. 



THE PERIOD OF TRANSITION 71 

mind with admiration. At every tnrn the modern explorer 
finds exemplified the union of beauty and truths art and sci- 
ence ; everywhere is exhibited the supremacy of mind over 
sense, of spirit over matter. Here human development at- 
tains complete perfection. From the fountain-head of Greek 
genius flows a clear and sparkling stream of boundless life 
and freedom — life in the fullest sense, joyous, unrestrained ; 
freedom in all its branches, moral, intellectual, political, 
social. It is this conception of humanity that the German 
mind pictures as its highest ideal of life. 

Klopstock called himself an '^apprentice of the Greeks ; " 
Winckelmann taught his countrymen to appreciate the beau- 
ty of Greek art ; Lessing and Goethe and Schiller were filled 
with the Greek spirit, and through them it became the 
common possession of the nation. The result 
was a blending of the spiritual life of the pres- ^Greeks ^ 
ent with classical life and thought — a mod- 
ern Renaissance that indicated the rise of a New Humanism. 

The ideal of the new humanism was radically different 
from the humanistic ideal that had held undisputed sway 
in the learned world for upward of two centuries. It is no 
longer the mastery of the Latin language, the imitation of 
classic style, the acquisition of eloquence or skill in dispu- 
tation ; the aim now is to develop the all-round man by in- 
fusing into his being the vitalizing spirit of classical culture. 
The Greek language advances to first place, not for the lan- 
guage alone but for the literature, for the content rather 
than the form. Moreover, language and literature are only 
partial records of the past ; art and philosophy and history 
speak with a thousand tongues. " History," Herder says, 
'^ opens to us beautiful bowers of friendship and discourse 
with the upright and thoughtful of all times. Here Plato 
stands before me : there I hear Socrates's kindly question- 
ings, and share in his last fate. When Marcus Antoninus in 
his chamber communes with his heart, he also speaks to 
mine ; and poor Epictetus gives commands more powerful 
than those of a king. The ill-starred Tullius, the unfortu- 



72 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

nate Boethins speak to me, confiding to me the circum- 
stances of their lives, the anguish and comfort of their souls. 
Thus history leads ns, as it were, into the council of fate, 
teaches us the eternal laws of human nature, and assigns to 
us our own place in the great organism in which reason and 
goodness have to struggle, to be sure, with chaotic forces, 
but always, according to their very nature, must create order 
and go forward on the path of victory/^ ^ '' The Germans,^' 
it was said, " should unite the virtues of the Greeks and 
Romans with their own. They should study the Greeks and 
Romans merely to become thereby the better Germans, and in 
every kind of virtue to surpass them.^^ 

It was inevitable that so complete a change in the spir- 
itual ideals of a people should induce a corresponding change 

in their schools. The new Hanoverian Uni- 
Movement/ vcrsity of Gottiugcn became the centre of the 

pedagogical reforms ; a considerable part of its 
fame belongs to one man, J. M. Gesner, who at the opening 
of the University was called to the chair of classical languages 
from the rectorship of the TJi07nasschuIe in Leipsic. For 
twenty-seven years Gesner devoted all his marvellous ability 
as teacher and scholar to the cause of humanity. He was 
the first of the new humanists, a broad-minded man, inter- 
ested in the modern literature and familiar with modern sci- 
ence and philosophy. Therefore, unlike the pedants of his 
day, he would have his students enjoy the classical literature 
in order that they might thereby acquire a correct standard 
of judgment and taste applicable to modern morals, nation- 
ality, language, thought and feeling. The teacher^s duty, he 
conceived, is to direct attention to the thought-content, to 
note the interdependence of cause and effect, to make clear 
the conditions which determine the course of events. What 
does the author mean ? How does he prove it ? Is he right 
or wrong ? What objections can be urged ? — these are the 
questions that give life to language-study. 



Herder, Ideen, XV., 6. Cited by Francke. 



THE PERIOD OF TRANSITION 73 

Gesner's work was ably carried on by his successor, Heyne, 
who did perhaps more than anyone else to popularize Greek 
poetry. In Saxony, the chief apostle of the 
new humanism was Ernesti, who followed Ges- schooil 
ner as rector of the Thomassclmle. Ernesti and 
lleyne were teachers of teachers ; their students carried with 
them into the schools of central and north-western Germany 
the humanistic spirit. Saxony, Hanover, Hesse-Cassel and 
the country round about officially encouraged the new re- 
forms. In Prussia the utilitarian theories of the realists of- 
fered considerable opposition to the realization of the human- 
istic ideal, but with the entrance of von Zedlitz into the 
ministry of Frederick the Great in 1771 a change was ap- 
parent. The cabinet order of 1779 gave von Zedlitz an oppor- 
tunity to attempt reforms in some of the more important 
higher schools of the kingdom, but for lack of co-operation 
on the part of local school authorities his efforts were not 
altogether successful. ^ But in Gedike and Meierotto, re- 
spectively rectors of the Friedricli-Werdersche 8chule and 
the JoacMmstalsclies Gymnasiu7n in Berlin, he found able 
and willing collaborators. These men entered heartily into 
the new methods of teaching the classics, adopted a new cur- 
riculum and did not a little to fix the character of the human ■ 
istic Gymnasium. Gedike especially was an ardent believer 
in the doctrine of formal discipline in accordance with the 
Wolffian psychology. He recognized the value of thought- 
content in literature, but he was also persuaded that the 
study of the classical languages is a most excellent mental 
gymnastic. " You can become a successful business man,^' he 
declared, '' an excellent judge and lawyer, a famous physi- 
cian, even a beloved and useful preacher, without Greek ; 
you will find in all these positions plenty of able men who 
learned it as youths only to forget it as men. But what is 
the inference ? — that the time given to it was wasted ? This 

' Rethwisch, Der Sta dsminister Freiherr von Zedlitz und Preussens 
hoheres Schulwesen im Zeiialte?^ Friedrichs des Grossen^ Berlin, 1886. 



74 GERMAN HIOHER SCHOOLS 

would be the case if the study were pursued only as a means 
of information/^ The fact is it serves another purpose : the 
all-ronnd training of the mental faculties. ^' So be assured 
that if you forget your Greek, yes, even your Latin too, you 
still have the advantage of having given your mind a train- 
ing and discipline that will go with you into your future oc- 
cupation." 

It is clearly apparent that there is chance for serious con- 
flict between the doctrine of formal discipline and the theory 
of classical culture. But it is interesting historically to 
know that both notions spring from the same ideal, the per- 
fection of the individual or Bildung zur Humanitdt. 

The pedagogical character of the humanistic Gyniiiasium, 
which at the end of the eighteenth century was universally 
recognized as the type of school corresponding to 
^Qif the new educational ideal, was largely the work 
of one man, Frederick August Wolf. He strove 
to set up a golden mean between the extremes so sharply ac- 
centuated by Gedike. His aim was to effect a harmonious 
union between culture and discipline, form and substance. 
I cannot state his view better than to quote the words of 
Professor Paulsen regarding the purpose of the Gym7iasium : 
'^ Its object is the development of all the faculties in every 
possible direction. To this end, a study of the ancient lan- 
guages is regarded as of the utmost importance ; for, by 
cultivating the Greek and Eoman languages and literatures, 
we acquire skill in all mental operations. The grammar as- 
sists us greatly in formulating our ideas ; the classical poets 
awaken our sense of the aesthetic, and cultivate a taste for 
beauty and simplicity ; the study of the historical and philo- 
sophical writers broadens our horizon, fills ns with noble 
sentiment and furnishes a historical basis for the proper con- 
ception of the present. The study of mathematics ranks next 
in importance, and also furnishes an excellent training to the 
faculties. The new era despises the utilitarian and encyclo- 
pedic attainments so highly valued by the previous epoch. 
True human culture, and not utility, is its aim. It is charac- 



THE PERIOD OF TRANSITION 75 

teristic of ignoble souls to appreciate only what is absolutely 
utilitarian, and to overlook entirely the importance of a free, 
beautiful, and perfect culture of the inner life."^ 

The utilitarian tendencies of the Enlightenment were eas- 
ily overcome after the death of Frederick the Great. A new 
ideal began to rule, an ideal born of rational- 
istic thought and nurtured by the democratic 
spirit of the times. The theory that all men are created equal 
was not to the German mind, as to the French and Ameri- 
can, a self-evident truth, but the perfectibility of the indi- 
vidual through education was a part of the universal creed 
of the eighteenth century. From the German point of view 
the development of man as man, the attainment of the high- 
est type of manhood, was possible only through humanistic 
training according to the standards of the Greeks. And as 
particularism grew into nationalism the humanistic ideal as 
interpreted by Stein, Fichte and Humboldt became the ideal 
of the nation. From the confusion of two hundred years 
there emerged one dominant form of higher education ; it 
was neither ecclesiastical nor partisan, although both secular 
and religious. The inactivity of the protestant Latin schools, 
the secularization of the colleges of the Jesuits consequent 
upon the suppression of the order in 1773, and the decline 
of the Ritterahademien paved the way for the complete re- 
construction of the higher schools of Germany on a national 
basis. This has been the work of the nineteenth century. 

General References : — Ziegler, Geschichte der Padagogik^ in Bau- 
meister's Ilandhuch der Erziehungs- und Unterrichtslehre ; Schmid's, 
Schmidt's and Rein's Encyclopedias ; Paulsen, Geschichte des GelehHeu 
Uhterrichts ; Wiese, Das hohere Schulwesen im Preussen^ Vol. I. ; Whit- 
man, Imperial Germany^ Leipsic, 1890 ; Hegel, Philosophy of History ; 
Baring-Gould, Germany^ Present and Past ; Wakeman, Europe^ 1598- 
1715 ; Taylor, Studies in German Literature ; Japp, German Life and 
Literature ; Lowell, Governments and PaHies in Continental Europe. 



Paulsen, The Forum, XXIII., 5 : 606-7. 



CHAPTER IV 

THE RECONSTRUCTION OF THE HIGHER SCHOOLS 

180G-1892 

The chief characteristic of modern political history is the 
foundation of great national states. The rise of Prussia to a 
commanding position in continental politics and her subse- 
quent leadership in the formation of the German Empire, are 
the central facts in the later history of Europe. The key- 
note to educational progress in Germany, therefore, must be 
sought in the ideas which have actuated Prussian leadership 
and led to Prussian success. That key-note is the concentra- 
tion of political forces and the struggle for national unity. 

At the opening of the century German patriotism was at a 

low ebb. There was no common bond of sympathy between 

Germany at the *^^® various statcs and no mutual ambitions. 

Beginning of the The national spirit was dormant. Prussia her- 

century. ^^^^ j^.^^ ^ .^^^^ ^ ^^^ ^^le high cstatc of Frederick 

the Great. The successors of that able monarch were totally 
unfit to carry on his work. "Where he strove to improve the 
conditions of the people and to abolish unjust class distinc- 
tions, they suffered themselves to be led by base intriguers 
and favoured courtiers. Under Frederick William II. '^ the 
people who had learnt already to associate energy and heroism 
with irreligion, were now taught to associate religion with 
vice, misgovernment and disgrace.^' ^ Even the well-meaning 
Frederick William III. continued on the downward path. 
Corruption in high places went hand in hand with the op- 

' Seeley, Life and Times of Stein. Pt. II. , chap. 2. 

70 



RECONSTRUCTION OF THE HIGHER SCHOOLS 77 

pression of the common people. Worse than that, the venal- 
ity of the ruling class made Germany an easy prey to French 
aggression. 

The defeat of the Prussian army at Jena and Auerstadt re- 
called the king and his councillors to their senses ; Prussia lay 
prostrate and bleeding at the feet of Napoleon. 
The Treaty of Tilsit was the penalty for -sleep- ^toTafjfnT' 
ing upon the laurels of Frederick the Great.'' 
By that treaty Prussia lost nearly half of her territory — all 
that between the Rhine and the Elbe, besides her share of 
Poland — and was so humiliated by the severe terms of Napo- 
leon that one wonders any national spirit was left. " The 
state seemed to have fallen in pieces because it had no prin- 
ciple of cohesion, and was held together by an artificial 
bureaucracy. It had been created by the enei-gy of its govern- 
ment and the efficiency of its soldiers, and now it appeared to 
come to an end because its government had ceased to be ener- 
getic and its soldiers to be efficient. The catastrophe could 
not but seem as irremediable as it was sudden and complete.'" ^ 

The war which dragged along for seven years was a war for 
the liberation of Prussia from the Napoleonic yoke. That it 
was finally successful is due in the first instance 
to a remarkable transformation in the loyalty Liberation, 
and patriotism of the people. The reforms of 
Stein, Ilardenburg, Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, in political 
and military afi'airs, were ably seconded by Arndt, Fitche, von 
Humboldt, and a score of others who strove passionately to 
enthuse the nation with a higher and nobler spirit. 

Baron von Stein began in 1807 the silent revolution by pro- 
posing the Emancipating Edict ^ which abolished class dis- 
tinctions in the tenure of land and business oc- ^. ., „ , 

Civil Reforms. 

cupation and struck the final blow at serfdom. 

He aimed to liberate the cities from the obnoxious and selfish 



' Seeley, Life and Times of Stein^ Pt. III. , chap. 4. 

^ A translation of the Edict is given in Translations and Reprints^ is- 
sued by the University of Pennsylvania, The Napoleonic Age^ Vol. II., 
No 2, Philadelphia, 1895. 



78 GERMAN HIOHER SCHOOLS 

control of a bureaucracy and to strengthen the state by ad- 
mitting the people to a share in its government. Naturally 
such radical proposals were displeasing to Napoleon and not 
altogether satisfactory to the royal favourites who were so 
largely responsible for the degradation of Prussia. Stein was 
soon forced to lay down his office and quit the country, but 
the seed he had planted came to fruition under Hardenburg, 
who extended the rights of citizenship and laid the founda- 
tions for legislation by representative assemblies. 

The year 1807 saw also the beginnings of far-reaching re- 
forms in the organization of the army. Napoleon had per- 
mitted the retention of only 42,000 men under 

Military Keforms. i i i » • i oi t 

arms, but by the foresight of Scharnhorst this 
little band became the nucleus of the grand army which under 
Bliicher seven years afterward helped to make Napoleon^s 
overthrow complete. The universal liability to military ser- 
vice and the constitution of a trained reserve force ready to 
take up arms at a moment's notice, innovations forced on 
Prussia by the exigencies of the situation, marked a new epoch 
in European military procedure. Instead of the old army, 
^^Frederick's army grown twenty years older,'' there arose a 
new army which could be maintained only by adequate recog- 
nition of merits and fitness in all its parts. It was seen that 
'' Nothing but attainments in education in peace, distin- 
guished gallantry, activity and comprehension in war can 
establish the claim to the post as officer. Hitherto, through 
the restriction of these honours to a single class, all the talents 
and requirements of the rest of the nation were lost to the 
army, and this class found itself relieved of the necessity of 
acquiring military talents, being raised to the highest mili- 
tary posts by birth and long life." ^ 

The reforms of Stein, Hardenburg, Scharnhorst and their 
co-workers were the official recognition of mighty changes 
in the social consciousness. The one thought was the over- 
throw of Napoleon and the restoration of national indepen- 

' Seeley, The Life a?id Times of Stein^ Pt. IV., chap. 4. 



RE00N8TRUGTI0N OF THE EIOHER SCHOOLS 79 

dence. In this great undertaking minor differences of men 
and states sank into insignificance ; there was no place for 
petty bickerings and factional strife. The lead- dianges in the 
ers knew that success could be attained only Social con- 
through united effort. Secret societies sprang sciousness. 
up whose members were pledged to promote the interests of 
the state. Through books and pamphlets and public ad- 
dresses patriotic men unceasingly sought to inflame the peo- 
ple. The stirring appeals of Arndt came at a time when 
'' songs were sermons and sermons were songs. ^' One of his 
pamphlets, '^ Tlie Rhine, Germany^ s River, hut never Ger- 
many's Boundary," seems now like an inspired prophecy. 
He, in common with many others of his time, was filled with 
the idea of German unity — not merely the aggrandizement of 
Prussia, but the birth of a Grerman Empire. In one of his 
great war-songs he asks the question, 

" What is the German's Fatherland ? 
Is it Prussia, or the Swabian's land ? 
Is it where the grape glows on the Rhine ? 
Where sea-gulls skim the Baltic's brine ? " 

The answer finally is found : 

" Where'er resounds the German tongue, 
Where'er its hymns to God are sung ! 

That is the land. 
Brave German, that thy Fatherland ! " 

The services of Arndt in the liberation of his country can- 
not be lightly regarded. He firmly believed in the imperial 
policy and remained steadfast in that faith, as 
may be seen from the fact that forty years after- ^"'J^d^Fj'chte™^^ 
ward he was one of the deputation to offer the 
imperial crown to the King of Prussia, Frederick William 
IV. The influence of Arndt, however, was mostly with the 
common people. Stein, in one of his letters, designates 
the philosopher Fichte as performing remarkable services 
among the leaders in thought and action. He says : " Fichte's 
Addresses to the Germans, delivered during the French oc- 



80 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

cupation of Berlin, and printed under the censorship of M. 
Bignon, the Intendant, had a great effect upon the feeling 
of the cultivated class/' Seeley, in citing this comment of 
Stein, observes ^' that in the midst of such weighty matters he 
slioiild remember to mention Fichte's addresses is a remark- 
able testimony to the effect produced by them on the public 
mind, and at the same time it leads us to conjectnre that they 
must have strongly influenced his owTi."^ 

Certain it is that this philosopher, confident in his own 
moral freedom and conscious of a growing perfection in the 
Fichte'sAd- ^'^cc, movcd liis couutrymen as they had not 
dresses to the been movcd since the days of the Keformation. 
German Nation, j^^ reminds them that ^^a nation that is capa- 
ble, if it were only in its highest representation and leaders, 
of fixing its eyes firmly on the vision from the spiritual 
world. Independence, and being possessed with a love of it, 
like our earliest ancestors, will assuredly prevail over a nation 
that is only used as the jtool of foreign aggressiveness and for 
the subjugation of independent nations, like the Roman 
armies ; for the former have everything to lose and the latter 
only something to gain." Again he exhorts them : '' On you 
it depends whether you will be the end and last of a race 
worthy of little respect ... or whether you will be the 
beginning and germ of a new time, glorious beyond all your 
imaginations, and those from whom posterity will reckon the 
years of their welfare." By such words as these he urged his 
people to action. '' That we can no longer resist openly has 
been already assumed and universally admitted. Having 
then lost the first object of life, what remains for us to do ? 
Our constitutions will be made for us, our treaties and the 
use of our military forces will be prescribed to us, a code will 
be given us, even the right of judicial trial and decision, and 
the exercise of it will be at times taken away ; for the present 
we shall be relieved of all these cares. Education alone has 
been overlooked ; if we want an occupation let us take to this. 



' Seeley, Life and Times of Stein, Pt. IV., chap. 1. 



REG0N8TRUGTI0N OF THE HIGHER SGHOOLS 81 

. . . I hope to convince some Germans and bring them 
to see that nothing but education can rescue us from all the 
miseries that overwhelm us. I count especially upon our 
being made more disposed to observation and earnest reflec- 
tion by our needs/^ ^ 

The course of events in Prussia during the war^ despite 
French domination, was wonderfully changed for the better. 
Not only in Prussia but in all Germany refoYms 
were executed which did much to alleviate the ^^si^s^ofthe 
hard condition of the peasantry and remove re- 
strictions which had so hampered the commercial and in- 
dustrial activities of the middle and upper classes. Such 
loyalty and devotion had been engendered that when inde- 
pendence was attained further effort toward political freedom 
was easily checked by those interested in perpetuating the 
sovereignty of local potentates. Notwithstanding it had been 
proclaimed in 1813 by the Prussian King that the object of 
his alliance with Eussia was '^ to aid the German peoples in 
recovering freedom and independence, and to afford to them 
effective protection and defence in re-establishing a venerable 
Empire/^ the Act of Confederation, adopted a week before 
Waterloo, ^'^made only the feeblest provisions for the conces- 
sion of popular rights and the establishment of representative 
institutions in the several states.'" ^ For a time Austrian in- 
fluence was supreme.. The Carlsbad Conference of 1819 ap- 
proved the repressive measures of Metternich which were 
aimed at the freedom of the press, university teaching, politi- 
cal discussion and free intercourse. Thus did the selfishness 
of rulers and the greed of royal sycophants triumph over the 
desires of the people for freedom, national unity and national 
greatness. 

The years from 1819 to 1848 marked a period of utter 
hopelessness for the liberal policy. That which had seemed 
so nearly attained in 1814 to all appearances was irretriev- 



' Fichte, Reden an die Deutsche Nation ; translation by Seeley. 
2 Bryce, Holy Roman EmpirCy p. 412. 



82 GERMAIN HIOHER SCHOOLS 

ably lost. The strict censorship of the press and the lack of 

all constitutional methods of bringing pressure to bear on the 

government effectually checked the develop- 

Kepressive ^^^^^ ^^ ^^^^ institutions. Nevertheless the 

Measures. 

exigencies of trade and industry united all Ger- 
many, save Austria, in 1836 in a Zollverein which in its 
own way contributed to the Revolution of 1848. Then for a 
time the petty rulers of G-ermany were thoroughly frightened, 
and by liberal promises to their peoples they succeeded in 
averting the threatened storm, only to fall back into the old 
ways once the danger was passed. The fifteen years following 
1850 seemed as devoid of hope as the thirty years and more 
that preceded. One advantage, however, had been gained : 
It was becoming increasingly clear that German sovereigns 
could be frightened into making liberal promises, and the no- 
tion was gaining ground that possibly they could be compelled 
to grant radical reforms. The rivalry between Prussia and 
Austria afforded a chance for even a comparatively weak 
party to exert considerable influence. The trend of events, 
especially the Schleswick-Holstein affair, showed unmistak- 
ably that Prussia was in the ascendancy, and with Prussia the 
weaker states were forced to unite. The union, foreshadowed 
in the North German Confederation, was finally accomplished 
on December 31, 1870, when in the palace of the French Em- 
perors the King of Prussia accepted the imperial crown which 
his brother had rejected in 1849. 

The German Empire of to-day is not altogether the ideal 
toward which German liberalism has been striving for three- 
German Empire ^^^^rtcrs of a century, but it conforms nearly 
a Confederation euougli to that ideal to sccure the allegiance of 
of states. ^YiQ old-time reformers. It is in fact little more 
than a confederation of states, some of which, notably Bavaria, 
are practically as independent as ever. There is still a censor- 
ship of the press and much official interference with the free- 
dom of speech and assembly ; property qualifications and 
the privileges of birth still continue to beget socialistic dis- 
cord. But notwithstanding these short-comings there is a 



BEGONSTBUGTION OF THE HIOHEB SGHOOLS 83 

universal feeling that the fortunes of the German people are 
indissolubly bound up with the future of Prussia. This 
state, with an area and a population greater than the other 
twenty-five together, and whose king is German Emperor by 
hereditary right, must continue to dominate the policy of the 
Empire. If complete unity has not been attained it is ac- 
knowledged that it can be secured in case of need. The 
lesson of German history teaches that progress comes in time 
of war, and Prussia stands armed cap-a-pie, ready to lead in 
the next conflict as she has in the past. One more desperate 
struggle and national unity may be perfected.^ 

The idea of national unity which has given colour to all 
the later political aspirations of the German people was power- 
fully re-enforced during the earlier decades of 
the century by the idealistic tendency in all 
departments of thought. That '^ enlightened " view of the 
world which saw the universe as a machine and God the 
master workman, that conception of mind as a store-house of 
ideas which gave no chance for individual initiative and per- 
sonal responsibility, that notion of art and literature which 
subjected them to rule and -reason — all characteristic of the 
eighteenth century — were transformed at the touch of the 
leading spirits of the new era. Kant showed that it is man's 
understanding, working on the things of sense, that gives 
laws to nature, and that human experience would be forever 
impossible without those forms of sense perception which 
" lie a priori in the mind,"^ready to be applied to all sensa- 
tions as they arise. "^ In the realm of scientific discovery " it 
was seen that reason has insight only into that which it pro- 
duces after a plan of its own, and that it must itself lead the 
way with principles of judgment based upon fixed laws, and 
force nature to answer its questions." ^ The outer world, ac- 

^ See the chapter on The New German Empire in Bryce's Holy Roman 
Empire^ London, 1894. 

^ Kant, Critique of Pure Reason^ introduction to the Transcendental 
Esthetic. 

^Kant, Introduction to the Critique of Pure Reason, 



84 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

cording to Kant, is a show- world, a world of phenomena ; the 
real world, the realm of things as they are, is utterly unknow- 
able. The world whicli we know, the world in which we 
live and move and have our being, is nothing apart from the 
apperceiving mind ; the world which man delights to con- 
quer and in which he must perform his part as in the sight 
of God is the world of human thought. 

German idealism, born of Kant and nurtured by Fichte 

and the Romantic School, culminated in the philosophy of 

Hegel. As a finished product, Hegelianism 

Influence of . ^ <» i • n jit 

Hegelianism. exercised a profound influence on the educa- 
tional history of Germany. ^'^ In fact," says 
Paulsen, " his philosophy may well be called the Prussian 
state-philosophy during the years from 1830 to 1840, and in 
a double sense ; it was the philosophical system officially 
acknowledged by the state or at least by the Ministry of 
Education, and on the other hand Hegel was the enthusiastic 
apostle of the ^state-idea.' " ^ But potent as was Hegelian- 
ism, it was rather a static than a dynamic force. Its subtle- 
ties made it a convenient shelter for all manner of reactionary 
and repressive measures. It Avas never so indubitably pro- 
gressive as the earlier representatives of the idealistic school. 
During the generation preceding 1805, men of genius were 
almost deified in the select circles of their adorers. Jena 
and AVeimar sprang into eminence because moved by the pres- 
ence of Goethe and Schiller, Herder and Fichte, and their 
satellites. 

The world, as Fichte conceived it, is the world that the 
self makes, the world that it freely chooses to make, and be- 
cause of its imperfections and limitations the self must needs 
work to overcome it. This is the whole duty of man : work 
to upbuild the moral order of the universe. The world is 
what we make it, good or bad, great or small, bond or free. 
Go forth and do something in a world that can be made 
better by your action. This is the spirit that cried out in 

^ Paulsen, German Universities^ New York, 1895, p. QS. 



EEGOJSrSTMUGTIOJSr OF THE HIGHER SGHOOLS 85 

tlie Addresses to the German Nation that it bethink itself of 
the duty resting upon it to create the truly civilized state and 
give back freedom to the world. Never did philosophy find 
a more eloquent advocate or touch more surely a nation's 
heart ! 

The philosophy of the Eomantic school lacked the ethical 
basis of Fichte's idealism. In its practical aspects it bordered 
on the immoral by granting to the budding ^^^ pMiosophy 
philosophers, literati, and professed geniuses a of the Romantic 
freedom of action which amounted in many school, 
cases to unbridled license. But it must be acknowledged that 
in this circle there was a buoyancy of spirit and an enthusi- 
asm in action which inevitably made for progress. That 
Weltanschauu7ig which leaves to man's caprice the determi- 
nation of his own world does not conduce to social stability, 
but it may serve a good purpose in casting aside useless tra- 
ditions. In breaking with the past the Romantic School saw 
fit to dispense with foreign culture, whether in classical or 
modern garb, except as it contributed to German needs. 
German literature, art and philosophy were advanced to first 
place. The Nibehingenlied was heralded as the German Iliad, 
and the half -forgotten singers of the sixteenth century, de- 
spised in their own day because they could use only the peas- 
ant speech, were now lauded because they wrote in German. 
In deference to this increasing respect for the individual man, 
especially if he be German, we find an increasing interest in 
the homelier element of life, a broader sympathy for all that 
is human. The folk-tales of the brothers Grimm and all the 
wealth of song and story which to-day seems so characteris- 
tically German must be credited to this romantic movement. 

A survey of the spiritual forces current in German life at 
the turn of the century easily discovers the secret of the 
political and military strength of the German 
nation. From the ashes of the Thirty Years' ^EduStion.^^ 
War there had sprung a proud and ambitious 
people determined to redeem the Fatherland. Deprived of 
their inheritance from the Renaissance of the fifteenth cen- 



86 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

tnry by circumstances over wliicli tliey had no control, but of 
which they were an integral part, they profited in the eigh- 
teenth from their birthright. In the meantime the stern 
lessons of history had taught them the value of co-operation 
and the dignity and worth of manhood. True, the lesson 
had been but imperfectly learned ; nevertheless it was clearly 
apparent to the leaders in the reconstruction of Germany that 
nobility of birth supported by a foreign culture must event- 
ually give way to a higher and more patriotic nobility rooted 
in a truly German civilization. The problem was how best 
to weld together the discordant elements in the state and to 
realize in the national life the highest ideals of individual 
and social excellence. Down to the Napoleonic era this had 
been regarded as peculiarly the prerogative of the church ; 
the trend of events guided by the collectivistic idea imposed 
this task in self-defence upon the state. The reconstruction 
of the school system and its adaptation to this end followed 
as a matter of course. 

In the reorganization of the schools to conform to the civic 

ideal of education two main tendencies are noticeable : First, 

the centralization of the school system, the 

'Problems of conversion of a vast collection of schools of all 

School Keform. 

grades into a single system capable of direction, 
supervision and management by a central authority acting for 
the state ; second, the selection of materials of instruction, 
the formation of courses of study and the methods of teach- 
ing best calculated to subserve the needs of the different 
classes of society while promoting the interests of the state. 
The former deals with the external affairs of the schools ; the 
latter is concerned solely with their internal arrangement and 
methods of work. The one has always enjoyed a close rela- 
tionship with practical politics and differs in the various states 
according to the political peculiarities of each ; the other, in- 
dependent of state boundaries, is conditioned primarily by 
the social, industrial and spiritual needs of the people. 

The development of central control of the schools in Prus- 
sia has been even more closely in touch with the political ex- 



REGONSTRUGTION OF THE HIGHER SGHOOLS 87 

pansion of the monarchy than in most other German states. 
A direct and systematic inspection of the evangelical schools 
followed the Reformation in Brandenburg, and 
Joachim II. established in 1552 a consistory for centtarSrof 
church and school affairs. In 1573 the Elector, 
John George, prescribed regulations for the inspection and 
general conduct of schools. In the privy council of Joachim 
Frederick there appeared in 1604 a special board to which 
was delegated supervisory powers over the church consistory. 
But inasmuch as all school inspectors were clergymen there was 
no thought of making the schools independent of the church. 
During the Thirty Years' War all was lost that had been gained. 
The wanton destruction of property and the loss of population 
effectually checked all educational progress. In 1687 Elector 
Frederick William made an urgent plea for the re-establish- 
ment of the school system on the lines marked out by his pred- 
ecessors. The founding of the Prussian kingdom in 1701 first 
gave an opportunity for effectual centralization. Under Fred- 
erick William II. regulations were enforced which secured 
considerable uniformity. Frederick the Great continued the 
development along the lines marked out by his father. In 
1750 he placed all the provincial consistories, except that of 
Silesia, under the jurisdiction of the Berlin consistory, and by 
so doing school affairs were brought more than ever under 
one central control. A practical result was that from a large 
number of weak Latin schools with no definite course of study 
there were evolved a few really good Gymnasien, with uni- 
form curricula. In 1771, Baron von Zedlitz became head 
of the Department of Lutheran Church and School Affairs. 
From that time on till his retirement from office in 1788 
there was rapid progress. At his instance King Frederick 
William 11. instituted in 1787 the Olerscliulcollegium, aboard 
charged with the reorganization of the school system and the 
oversight of all school affairs in the monarchy.^ 

' The duty of the board, according to tlie royal rescript, was '''-das ge- 
sammte Schulwesen in Unseren Landen auf das ziveckmdssigste einzu' 



88 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

Von Zedlitz was placed at the head of the board, and with 
him were associated the Berlin school-masters, J. II. Meierotto 
and Frederick Gedike, who were to be travelling inspectors of 
schools in the provinces. One of the most important regula- 
tions of the Oherschulcollegmm was the edict (1788) insti- 
tuting a system of leaving examinations in all the higher 
schools (AUtitrienteiqjrufiingen).^ This regulation, however, 
like most of those that had gone before, was of little practical 
importance. Whatever was pleasing to the church or the 
clerical parties was sure to succeed ; whatever was opposed to 
clerical interests was equally certain of failure. In fact it 
was the King^s settled policy in all his enactments to bind 
the school more closely to the church, and for this purpose 
the Ohersclmlcollegium was filled up with representatives of the 
clerical parties. More than that, Gedike's dream of a cen- 
tralized and uniform school system was officially dispelled by 
a refusal to extend the jurisdiction of the Oherschulcollegmm 
even to all the higher schools of the monarchy. At the end 
of the century there was really no state school system ; such 
system as obtained was directly under the control of the 
church and only indirectly responsible to the state. 

The first step in the secularization of the schools was taken 
in 1794 by the promulgation of the Allgcmeine Landreclit, 
the Prussian Magna Charta, itself the surest guarantee of the 
strength of the democratic spirit. The common law basis 
for educational institutions was stated in these unequivocal 

richten^ und nach den Umstdnden der Zeit und der Beschaffenheit der 
Schiden immer zu verbessern. Es muss dai'auf Acht hahen^ dass nach 
Verschiedenheit der Schiden iyijeder der nothwendige und niUzlichste Ihiter- 
richt ertheilt tverde ; es muss mit Nachdruck darauf halteyi^ dass iiherall 
zweckmdssige Schulbiicher gehrauclit und eingefiihrt^ und wo solche man- 
geln^ durch tUchtige Manner eingefiirht werden. — Wir legen dem 0. S. C. 
die Befugniss hei^ an alle Landesregierungen und Consistorien, auch an 
das ostpreuss^ Staatsministerium Rescripte und BefeJile zu erlassen.^* 
(Wiese, Das hohere Schulivesen in Preussen, I., p. 3.) 

' The various regulations governing the examinations down to 1863 are 
given in Wiese, Das hohere Schulwesen in Preussen, I. , pp. 478-52-i. Later 
details are given by Kiibler. 



MEGONSTRUGTlON OF THE HIGHER SGHOOLS 89 

terms : '^ Schools and universities are state institutions, 
charged with the instruction of youth in useful information 
and scientific knowledge. Such institutions separation of 
may be founded only with the knowledge and church and 
consent of the state. All public schools and School, 
educational institutions are under the supervision of the 
state, and are at all times subject to its examination and in- 
spection.'^ These were brave words, but they had little actual 
significance until the people were fully roused to the neces- 
sities of national independence and national unity. 

The organization of the Prussian school system waited on 
the reorganization of the Prussian state. On October 5, 
1807, Baron von Stein was j^laced at the head of 
the entire civil administration of the monarchy. Humboldt. 
One of his first acts was to abolish the Ober- 
schulcollegium in order effectually to rid himself of clerical 
domination. In 1808 the bureau of public instruction was 
transferred to the Department of the Interior, in which it 
formed one of the six sections. The Section filr Cultus tmd 
den offentliclien UuterricM was presided over by William von 
Humboldt. " The Providential man appeared in Humboldt, 
as great a master of the science and art of education as 
Scharnhorst was master of the organization of war. Not 
only was he himself, as a, scholar and an investigator, on 
a level witli the very first of his age, not only had he lived 
with precisely those masters of literature, Schiller and Goethe, 
who were most deliberate in their self-culture, and have 
therefore left behind most instruction on the higher parts of 
education, but he had been especially intimate with F. A. 
"Wolf. Formed by such teachers, and supported by a more 
intense belief in culture than almost any man of his time, 
Humboldt began his work in April, 1809." ^ His efforts 
were directed from the first to making the education of the 
Prussian youth commensurate with the responsibilities of 
Prussian citizenship. The schools must exist for the state 

* Seeley, Life and Times of Stein^ Ft. VI., chap. '6. 



90 GERMAN HiaHER SCHOOLS 

and must learn how to train up intelligent. God-fearing, pa- 
triotic citizens. For the most part his efforts were direct- 
ed to the internal improvement of the schools, but it was seen 
that no radical change could be made without first putting 
the schools in such a position that unwilling pedagogues 
should be forced to obey governmental requests. So far as 
the higher schools were concerned there was little uniformity 
in the courses of study and no guarantee that their graduates 
were fitted for university work and the civil service, except 
the uncertain entrance tests applied by the universities them- 
selves. Accordingly in 1812 the system of final examinations 
which had fallen into abeyance was revived and enforced. 
But the time was not ripe for its universal application. Fail- 
ure to pass this examination, which was conducted by local 
school officers under the personal supervision of a state in- 
spector, did not prevent a student's admission to the uni- 
versity nor to the civil service ; the only penalty was in- 
eligibility for the many valuable stipends controlled by the 
state. Not till the second decade of the century was the 
privilege of admission to the civil service withdraAvn from 
those who failed to pass the final examinations of the Gym- 
nasien. The decisive step was taken in 1834, when it was de- 
creed that candidates for the learned jn'ofessions must have 
as a prerequisite for admission to the state examinations a 
certificate of graduation from an approved higher school. 
Inasmuch as the leaving examinations of the higher schools 
are conducted by a board of school officers in the presence of 
a representative of the department of public instruction, 
whose approval is necessary in passing a candidate, it will be 
seen how completely the essential control of the schools had 
passed into the hands of the central board. 

The plan of administration as proposed by Stein and elab- 
orated by Humboldt and his successors continued in force 

down to the year 1817, when that section of the 
'^Bu^eau^acy*^^ Interior Department which included the bureau 

of education was erected into an independent 
ministry, called the Ministermm tier geistliclieii nncl Unter- 



REOONSTRUGTION OF THE HIGHER SCHOOLS 91 

richtsangelegenlieiten. The chjef of the new Department was 
Baron Von Altenstein, who remained in office until his death 
in 1840 — a regime which marks the triumph of bureaucracy, 
as may be inferred from the fact that for eight years, 1824- 
1832, the Director of the Police Bureau was officially in 
charge of the department of public instruction. ^ 

1 "In 1817, the students of several universities assembled at the Wart- 
burg in order to celebrate the tercentenary of the Reformation. In 
the evening, a small number of them, the majority having already left, 
were carried away by enthusiastic zeal, and, in imitation of Luther, burnt 
a number of Avritings recently published against German freedom, to- 
gether with other emblems of what was considered hateful in the insti- 
tutions of some of the German states. These youthful excesses were 
viewed by the governments as symptoms of grave peril. At the same time, 
a large number of students united to form one great German Buy'schen- 
scliafi (association of students), whose aim was the cultivation of a love 
of country, a love of freedom, and the moral sense. Thereupon increased 
anxiety on the part of the governments, followed by vexatious police 
interference. Matters grew worse in consequence of the rash act of a 
fanatical student, named Sand. It became known that the Russian 
government was using all its powerful influence to have liberal ideas 
suppressed in Germany, and that the play-wright Kotzebue had secretly 
sent to Russia slanderous and libellous reports on German patriots. 
Sand travelled to Mannheim and thrust a dagger into Kotzebue' s heart. 
The consequences were most disastrous to the cause of freedom in Ger- 
many. The distrust of the governments reached its height : it was held 
that this bloody deed must needs be the result of a Avide-spread con- 
spiracy : the authorities suspected demagogues everywhere. . . . 
Many young men were thrown into prison ; gymnastic and other societies 
were arbitrarily suppressed ; a rigid censorship of the press was estab- 
lished, and the freedom of the universities restrained ; various professors, 
among them Arndt, whose songs had helped to fire the enthusiasm of the 
Freiheiis-Jcdmpfer—the soldiers of freedom — in the recent war, were de- 
prived of their offices; the Burschenschaft was dissolved, and the wearing 
of their colours, the future colours of the German Empire, black, red, 
and gold, was forbidden. . . . The universities continued to uphold 
the national idea ; the Burschenschaft soon secretly revived as a private 
association, and as early as 1820 there again existed at most German uni- 
versities Burschenschaften^ which, though their aims were not sharply de- 
fined, bore a political colouring and placed the demand for German unity 
in the foreground." (Krause, The Groivth of German Unity., chap. 8.) 



92 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

The external organization of the school-system was fnlly 
accomplished in 1825 when provincial school-boards {P^^ovin- 
zial ScJiuIcoUegien), responsible to the Ministry of Education, 
were instituted in the several provinces of the kingdom side 
by side with the church consistories. At this point the 
schools were finally separated from the church and state con- 
trol was assured. 

The great work, however, which Humboldt set himself to 
do was the vitalizing of the schools from within. It need not 
be related here in detail how that work was Reforms in 
done in the field of elementary or of university Elementary Ed- 
education. '' The movement in behalf of popu- ^cation. 
lar schools commenced by inviting C. A. Zeller, of Wiirtem- 
berg, to Prussia. Zeller was a young theologian who had 
studied under Pestalozzi in Switzerland, and was thoroughly 
imbued with the method and spirit of his master. On his 
return he had convened the school-teachers of Wlirtemberg in 
barns, for want of better accommodations being allowed him, 
and inspired them with a zeal for Pestalozzi^s methods, and 
for a better education of the whole people. On removing to 
Prussia he first took charge of the seminary at Koenigsberg, 
soon after founded the seminary at Karalene, and went about 
into different provinces meeting with teachers, holding con- 
ferences, visiting schools and inspiring school officers with the 
right spirit. The next step taken was to send a number of 
young men, mostly theologians, to Pestalozzi^s institution at 
Iferten, to acquire his method, and on their return to place 
them in new or reorganized teachers' seminaries. To these 
new agents in school improvement were joined a large body of 
zealous teachers, and patriotic and enlightened citizens, who, 
in ways and methods of their own, laboured incessantly to con- 
firm the Prussian state, by forming new organs for its inter- 
nal life, and new means of protection from foreign foes. 
They proved themselves truly educators of the people. Al- 
though the government thus not only encouraged, but di- 
rectly aided, in the introduction of the methods of Pestalozzi 
into the public schools of Prussia, still the school-boards in the 



REGONSTRUOTION OF THE HIGHER SCHOOLS 93 

different provinces sustained and encouraged those who ap- 
proved and taught on different systems. . . . Music, 
which was one of Pestalozzi^s great instruments of culture, 
was made the vehicle of patriotic songs, and through them the 
heart of all Germany was moved to bitter hatred of the con- 
queror Avho had desolated her fields and homes, and humbled 
the pride of her monarchy. All these efforts for the improve- 
ment of the elementary education, accompanied by exjoensive 
modifications in the establishments of secondary and supe- 
rior education, were made when the treasury was impover- 
ished, and taxes the most exorbitant in amount were levied on 
every province and commune of the kingdom." ^ From such 
beginnings has grown the most magnificent system of common 
schools in the world. 

The influence of the reformers was felt quite as distinctly 
in university education. Seeley says that ^^it was on the 
highest department of education that Humboldt j^gforms in Uni- 
left his mark most visibly. He founded the versity Educa- 
University of Berlin ; he gave to Europe a new ^^°^' 

seat of learning, which has ever since stood on an equality 
with the very greatest of those which Europe boasted before. 
We are not indeed to suppose that the idea of such a univer- 
sity sprang up for the first time at this moment, or in the brain 
of Humboldt. Among all the losses which befell Prussia by 
the Peace of Tilsit none was felt more bitterly than the loss 
of the University of Halle, where Wolf himself had made his 
fame. Immediately after the blow fell, two of the professors of 
Halle made their way to Memel and laid before the King a 
proposal to establish a High School at Berlin. This was on 
August 22, 1807. ... A university is not founded in 
a day, and accordingly while Stein held office the design did 
not pass beyond the stage of discussion. . . . Humboldt 
sent in his report on May 12, 1809, and on August 16th fol- 
lowed the Order of Cabinet assigning to the new University, 
along with the Academies of Science and Art, an annual do- 

^ H. Barnard, Am Journal of Education .^ VIIL, 405. 



94 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

nation of 150,000 thalers, and the palace of Prince Henry as 
its residence. During the rest of his term of office Humboldt 
was occupied in negotiations with eminent men of science all 
over Germany, whose services he hoped to procure. He was 
certainly not unsuccessful. He secured Fichte for philoso- 
phy ; Schleiermacher, De Wette, and Marheineke for the- 
ology ; Savigny and Schmalz for jurisprudence ; Friedliinder, 
Kolrausch, Hufeland, and Reil for medicine ; Wolf, Butt- 
mann, Bockh, Heindorf, and Spalding for the study of an- 
tiquity ; Niebuhr and Riihs for history ; Tralles for mathe- 
matics (Gauss refused the invitation). The University was 
opened at Michaelmas of 1810, and as the first result of it 
the first volume of Niebuhr's Roman History, opening so vast 
a field of historical speculation, was published in 1811.^^^ 

The reforms which were inaugurated in the higher schools 
were characteristic of the age and reflect the personalities of 
Reforms in Sec- ^^^^ great leaders in educational thought. Hum- 
ondary Educa- boldt and Wolf Were ardent humanists ; both 
were profound students and enthusiastic ad- 
mirers of Greek culture. It was natural that their influence 
should be exerted in favour of the new humanism which had 
already won a place for itself in central and northern Ger- 
many under the leadership of the University of Gottingen. 
Wolf, himself, had been for years a missionary of the new cult 
in Halle ; Herder had made it at home in the Gymnasium in 
Weimar. It might seem, therefore, to the casual observer that 
nothing could prevent the triumph of Greek ideals. But 
Humboldt was in office only about a year and Wolffs temper- 
ament was not such as to make him a popular leader of men. 
More than that the reforms of the higher schools were scarcely 
more than begun when the reactionary tendency in all lines of 
civic and mental activity began to set in. To be sure much 
had been accomplished before the true significance of the 
reforms were fully realized, and a machinery had been set in 
motion which had to be directed and could not be stopped. 

^ Seeley, Life and Times of Stein^ Ft. VI., chap. 3. 



BECONSTBUCTION OF THE HIOHER SCHOOLS 95 

The direction, however, was not altogether in harmony 
with the views of those who had planned the educational 
reforms. 

A survey of the educational field at the beginning of the 
century discloses two radically different types of classical 
schools. The Weimar Gymnasium was a lead- 

1. L- -e XI, -u • X- • 1 1 ^^*^ Problems. 

mg representative oi the new humanistic ideal ; 
Schulpforta was the best known institution of the old type. 
Both were strong and vigorous schools and well calculated 
for leadership in the educational world. Schulpforta made 
the doctrine of formal discipline the chief article in its creed ; 
the critical study of the ancient languages was the all-impor- 
tant means to this end. Its supporters were especially nu- 
merous in southern Germany and wherever clerical influence, 
particularly Jesuitical, was felt. The Weimar school was 
the creation of Herder, who set as his educational ideal the 
Bildung zur Hwnanitdt. In effect the opposition was strict- 
ly between the old humanism and the new. 

There can be little doubt that if Humboldt and Wolf had 
come into power ten years earlier the victory of the new ideas 
would have been more com|)lete. As it was they were forced 
to reckon with the conservatism of school-masters and found 
it insuperable. Yet no one but possibly they themselves 
would count their labour lost. While they did not attain the 
heights of their ambition they made the higher schools of the 
kingdom a hundred-fold more efficient than they had ever 
been before. The ideals of Greek culture were so built into 
the very foundations of the school system that it has since 
been impossible to remove them. 

Perhaps the wisest measure that Humboldt introduced was 
the one relating to the certification of teachers as set forth 
in the edict of 1810.^ This measure provided 
for a searching examination of all candidates ^eacherT 
for teachers^ positions and effectually checked 
what had been a common practice of permitting theological 

' See Wiese, Das hdhere Schulwesen in Preussen^ I., pp. 545 ff. 



96 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

students to eke out an existence while waiting for a suitable 
post in the church. The position of teacher was raised at 
once to something like professional dignity. And from that 
day to this the teaching profession has steadily grown in tech- 
nical and social importance. 

The introduction of leaving examinations in 1812 put a 
premium on uniformity in school work. It was also decreed 
at the same time that all classical schools, en- 
^'''''\^IT'''^' *i*led to fit students for the universities, wheth- 
er known by the title of Gymnasium, Lyceum, 
Pddagogium,, Collegium, Lateinische Schule, or what not, 
should henceforth be called Gymnasien. 

For the guidance of these schools Humboldt commissioned 

Silvern, a pupil of Fichte and AVolf and later a member of 

Gedike^s seminar, to prepare a general course 

criticism as early as 1811, but its publication 
was delayed till 1816. It did not meet Wolf's approval, but 
Paulsen suggests ^ that perhaps his opposition was due as 
much to the fact that he himself was not asked to prepare it 
as to tlie actual contents of the document. Be this as it 
may, it is certainly true that while Wolf may justly be called 
the father of the modern Gym^iasium, the child was not ex- 
actly the image of the parent. Throughout the ten years' 
course the main subjects of instruction were Latin, Greek 
and mathematics. The time allotment in the upper classes 
was as follows : Latin, 8 hours a week ; Greek, 7 ; German, 
4 ; mathematics, G ; history and geography, 3 ; religion, 2 ; 
and science, 2. No provision whatsoever was made for in- 
struction in the elements of philosophy, French, or subjects 
designed to afford " useful information. '^ This was the op- 
posite of eighteenth century utilitarianism. The aim of 
instruction in the higher schools was " the formal develop- 
ment of good understanding and righteous judgment. '^ 

The Lehrplan of 1816 was evidently a compromise. The 

' Paulsen, Geschichte des Gelehrten Unterrichts^ p. 576. 



REOONSTRUGTION OF THE HIGHER SGHOOLS 97 

special importance attached to Greek was pleasing to the 
new humanists ; the increased number of hours devoted to 
mathematics was a sop to the realists and those 
who upheld the value of formal mental disci- ^^^'ff «^ isi^ 

J- uot a Success. 

pline. As a result it was generally unsatisfac- 
tory and never universally adopted. ^ Teachers could not be 
found who knew enough of Greek or mathematics to meet 
the demands of the official program. How to secure able 
teachers and make their work most effective was the problem 
of the next twenty years. 

The first requirement was better scholarship. With better 
prepared students the universities were soon able to turn out 
more scholarly graduates. Not only was the 
general university instruction steadily improved ^^^ ^^g^^ed^^^^ 
during the early decades of the century, but 
special attention was everywhere given to the training of 
teachers. Philological seminars were established in all the 
universities before 1825 ''^ which ably carried on the work 
so well marked out by Gesner in Gottingen and Wolf in 
Halle. Pedagogical seminars were also established at tliis 
time which did much to develop the professional spirit.^ In 
1826, a year of trial teaching (Prohejahr) was required of all 
candidates, and in 1831 new orders were issued for the con- 
duct of teachers' examinations. All candidates for positions 
in the higher schools, whether holders of doctor's degrees 
from universities or not, were obliged to take examinations 
in the main subjects of the higher school course and in 
philosophy, pedagogy and theology. Distinguished excellence 

' See Wiese, HoTieres Schulweseyi^ I., p. 21. 

^Konigsberg, 1810; Berlin, 1812 ; Greifswald, 1820 ; Breslau, 1812 
Miiuster, 1825; Bonn, 1819. 

=*Herbart'3 seminar in Konigsberg was officially recognized in 1810 
Gedike's seminar in Berlin was formally taken over by the University in 
1812; the seminar in Stettin, founded in 1804, was reorganized in 1816 
Breslau began pedagogical work in 1813; and in 1817 it was stated that 
the purpose of the reorganized seminar in Halle was " the training of 
skilled teachers for the Gymnasien." (Wiese, Hoheres Schulwesen, I., 539.) 
7 



98 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

was required in one of the three main groups— (a) Greek, 
Latin and German ; (b) mathematics and the natural sci- 
ences ; (c) history and geography — and a reasonable knowl- 
edge of the other two. According to the standing obtained 
in this examination candidates were licensed to teach (after a 
successful trial year) in the higher, middle or lower grades of 
the higher schools. Promotion was strictly dependent upon 
scholarly and professional attainments, the one as tested by 
examination, the other chiefly by skill in teaching. 

In the development of school affairs the example of Prussia 
was closely followed by the Grand Duchy of Hesse and the 
„ . , ^ , other northern states, but central and southern 

Prussia's Example ^ 

FoUowed in Other Germany followed their own devices. In Sax- 
states, ^j^y ^Y\Q leadership of the great cloister-schools, 
Schulpforta, Grimma and Meissen, was generally acknowl- 
edged, and this tended distinctly toward a one-sided classical 
training, and that mainly philological. In Bavaria, Freder- 
ick Thiersch introduced the Saxon plan and carried out re- 
forms which were in most respects opposed to the new 
humanism. According to his program, which was published 
in 1829 and officially adopted in all main points in 1830, 
Latin was given IG hours a week during the first two years, 
12 hours a week during the next fopr years, and 10, 9, 8 and 
6 hours a week respectively during the last four years of the 
course. Greek was taught throughout the last eight years 
with a total of 51 hours. Logic and philosophy, German and 
history, were to be taught incidentally in connection with the 
classics. For mathematics 3 or 4 hours a week were con- 
sidered sufficient. Wiirtemberg followed much the same line 
of development. Baden was considerably more liberal and 
inclined to the Prussian plan, but, on the whole, southern 
Germany was loath to abandon the old mode of education. 
Undoubtedly the influence of the Jesuits did much to main- 
tain the supremacy of Latin in the schools, but even in prot- 
estant districts no reform has successfully combated the 
popular faith in classical scholarship. 

The period from 1820 to 1840 is one of consolidation and 



' RECONSTRUCTION OF THE HIGHER SCHOOLS 99 

organization ; it is not a period of progress in German educa- 
tion, except from the stand-point of practical politics. Dur- 
ing these years the school system of Prussia was 
converted into a mighty political force and made ^So^isio*^ 
obedient to the will of the state. The regu- 
lations concerning the governmental administration of the 
schools, the preparation and certification of teachers, and the 
control of school instruction through the final examinations, 
have already been mentioned as the work of Altenstein's 
ministry under the guidance of Johannes Schulze, chief of 
the bureau of education. ^ One further consideration and the 
review of the period will be complete. 

The first impulse of the reformers of the revolutionary 
period Avas to make Greek the centre of all gymnasial in- 
struction. Even Herbart, who had little sym- 
pathy with the roseate views of the idealists. The Place of 
earnestly advocated the claims of the Greek 
language and literature for the purpose of educative instruc 
tion. The program of 1816 gave it a prominent place, but, as 
Wolf well knew, not all schools were prepared to teach Greek 
to the extent recommended, nor were all teachers of the sub- 
ject new humanists. In consequence some provision had to 
be made for the acceptance of equivalents. Up to 1824 it 
was possible to graduate from the Gymnasien without Greek. 
Substitution was then made permissible only with the con- 
sent of the provincial school-boards, and in 1837 Greek be- 
came an obligatory study. 

At first sight it looks as if the victory were slowly on the 
side of the reformers, but in fact it was their defeat. In the 
early 20''s it became apparent that the first 
care of the administration was to restore the ^Lead. 
supremacy of Latin. The philological seminars 
of the universities were ordered to give more attention to 
Latin composition. Occasional courses in Latin were given 

' Varrentrapp, Johannes Schulze und das hohere Unterrichtswesen in 
seiner Zeit^ 1889. 



100 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

by the Eaculties of Law and Medicine, thanks to a little 
official inspiration from the ministry, and finally the require- 
ments of the final examinations as announced in 1834 showed 
precisely where the schools were expected to stand. The 
certificate of graduation could be given only to him who 
could write Latin without grammatical errors and in a style 
tolerably free from Germanisms, and who could speak the 
language readily enough to satisfy the examiners thereby of 
his knowledge of the other subjects of the course. Latin 
was not the only object of official test ; but as the examination 
in other studies, Greek included, was conducted through the 
Latin, it is safe to say that no candidate would fail to put 
the stress in the proper place. If Greek was made obligatory, 
Latin was absolutely indispensable. The truth is it was 
necessary officially to bolster up the study of Greek to keep it 
from disappearing entirely under the bureaucratic zeal for 
excellence in Latin. 

Another innovation of this jieriod which shows clearly 
enough the trend of official thought was the introduction of 
philosophical propaedeutics. This consisted 
Theofog^y!^^ principally of empirical psychology and logic 
as a " preparation for the systematic study of 
the true philosophy." But what of the true philosophy ? 
Some inconsiderate provincial boards raised the question and 
were laughed at for their pains. The true philosophy, of 
course, is the Hegelian, and he who would teach in the higher 
schools must be prepared to believe in it as religiously as in 
his theology. Philosophy not only found an entrance into 
the schools but the universities were constrained to make it 
a required subject for degrees and similar honours. Theology, 
too, became a formal study for intending teachers, and the os- 
tensible purpose of the eight years' reign of the Police Min- 
ister in the bureau of education was to promote the inter- 
ests of a truly religious education among the people ! 

The gymnasial program of 1837 is the embodiment of all 
that had gone before in tlie realm of internal school affairs. 
It gives us the first all-round view of what the Prussian state 



RECONSTRUCTION OF THE HIGHER SCHOOLS 101 



considered essential in the training of its future leaders in 
thought and action. It was the first program which was uni- 
versally adopted in all Prussian Gymnasien, 
and its adoption marked the triumph of the ^^^^3^^^"^°* 
Altenstein Ministry in its crusade against free- 
dom and individual initiative in education. Uniformity was 
thereby attained and the school system effectually nation- 
alized.^ 



GYMiTASiAL Program 


OF 1837. 










Classes. 




VI. 


V. 


IV. 


nib. 


IHa. 


II/>. 


Ila. 


16. 


la. 


Total. 


Latin 


10 


10 


10 
6 
2 


10 

6 
2 
2 
2 
3 


10 
6 
2 
2 
2 
3 


10 
6 
2 
2 
2 
4 
1 


10 
6 
2 
2 
2 
4 
1 


8 
6 
2 
2 
2 
4 
2 
2 
2 


8 
6 
2 
2 
2 
4 
2 
2 
2 


86 


Greek 


42 


German 


4 


4 


22 




12 


Religion 


2 
4 


2 

4 


2 
3 


18 




33 


Physics 


6 


Philosophy 












4 


History and Geography. . . 
Natural History 


3 
2 
2 
3 

2 


3 
2 

2 
3 
2 


2 
2 

2 
1 
2 


3 
2 


3 
2 


3 


3 


24 
10 




..| 






6 


Writing 












7 


Singinc 


2 


2 


" ' (2) " 









10 


Hebrew (elective) 


r2^ 


(2) 


(2) 


(8) 














w 1 . , 


Total 


32 


32 


32 


32 


32 




30(2) 


30(2) 













The Period 
1840-TO. 



A new era in the history of Prussian education began in 
1840 with the reign of Frederick William IV. The leaders 
of the preceding generation had been super- 
seded by others who were of a different faith ; 
Wolf, Goethe, Hegel, and Humboldt Avere all 
dead, and in their places stood men who were almost fanati- 
cally opposed to the philosophy and world-views which had 
characterized the first third of the century. Specialization 
was the watch-word of the new order. In philology, history, 
philosophy and theology scholars were coming to content 
themselves with a thorough knowledge of some particular 



' The Circular- Rescript von 24 October^ 1837^ is given in full inWiese- 
Kiibler, Verordnungen imd Gesetze, Pt. I., pp. 53-65. 



102 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

branch of their subject rather than strive for a comprehensive 
view of the entire field ; much less, therefore, were they in- 
terested in a superficial knowledge of the world in general. 
Note the change in philology from Wolfs general science of 
antiquities : Bopp (1791-1867) developed comparative gram- 
mar on the basis of the Sanskrit ; Dietz (1794-1876) was the 
founder of Eomance philology ; Ritschl (1806-1876) intro- 
duced his students to a study of the Latin inscriptions ; and 
Lepsius (1810-1884) sought his materials for Egyptology with 
a spade. In history, following the epoch-making work of 
Niebuhr (1776-1831) came Eanke (1795-1886), who led the 
way in investigation of the sources. Hegel (1770-1831) was 
succeeded by Schopenhauer (1788-1860) and Lotze (1817-* 
1881), and a new field was opened up by Fechner (1801-1887) 
and Wundt (1832-) in psychology. Even the old theology 
found opponents in Baur and the Tubingen school, who intro- 
duced the higher criticism from the historical stand-point. 
Jurisprudence had its sj^ecialists and critics in von Savigny 
and Stahl. But the most significant change of all was the 
tendency in science. Miiller (1801-1858) gave a new impulse 
to the study of pathological anatomy by the introduction of 
the microscope ; Schultze (1825-1874) systematized zoology ; 
Liebig (1803-1873) made a new chemistry, and Helmholtz 
(1821-1894) a new physics. In short, every object which at- 
tracted the attention of scholars was carefully investigated 
and set off into specialties. 

The immediate effect upon the schools of the strictly scien- 
tific methods of research which were gradually introduced 
after 1830 was a tendency to discredit all that 

^SpedautS.° ^^^ ^^^^^'^ ^^^^ attempted. But the work 

of the Altenstein Ministry could not easily be 

set aside ; nevertheless the Prussian Department of Education 

assiduously strove to bring unity into the classical schools by 

emphasizing still further the study of Latin. ^ The idea of 

' Wiese gives an ofl5cial summary of the years 1864-1869 in Das hohere 
Schulwesen in Preussen, II., pp. 1-32 j 1869-1874, in III., pp. 1-60. 



RECONSTRUCTION OF THE HIGHER SCHOOLS 103 

power and special knowledge thus manifested itself in the 
classical schools by a return to the method of the old human- 
ists. The ability to read^ write and speak Latin was the 
chief end of all instruction. A gymnasial program was issued 
in 1856 wliich incorporated many of the desired reforms. In 
the two lower classes the instruction in German was combined 
with the Latih^ to which two hours weekly were added, and 
the time previously given to the natural sciences was almost 
entirely devoted to French and religion. The writing of 
Latin was an important exercise in all classes. Greek prose 
composition was included in the final examination, from which 
German literature, French, the natural sciences and philos- 
ophy were entirely omitted. Latin was the main part of the 
gymnasial course ; everything was subsidiary to the classics. 

There were forces operative in German life, however, which 
were destined in time to overcome the extreme leaning to- 
ward a classical training. The rise of modern forces opposed 
science and the accompanying changes in the to classical 
industrial world demanded a hearing. The de- framing. 
velopmeiit of rapid transit, the discovery of easy means of 
communication and the invention of labor-saving devices 
tended toward the growth of urban population. This in its 
turn produced unexpected effects upon the social conditions 
of the country. The political revolution of 1848 was out- 
wardly a failure ; but the industrial and social revolution which 
began to be felt in Germany in the 30^s, and which grew 
steadily despite all hinderances during the succeeding forty 
years, finally found free scope in the re-established German 
Empire. So completely has the new order supplanted the 
old that within the last twenty-five years Germany has entered 
the markets of the world and become a dangerous rival for 
commercial supremacy. In this period Germany has been 
transformed from a mediaeval agricultural nation into a high- 
ly developed industrial power. 

In the organization of the school system little thought was 
given to the practical needs of the people. The reformers 
were intent upon securing the ideal training for the ideal 



104 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

citizen. Enough was done, they apparently believed, when 

schools were provided on the one hand for the common people 

and on the other hand for those who were to be 

Growth of Real- ig^dcrs in society. But i^ea/-schools were in 

Schools. '' 

existence and they continued to exist. Many 
of the old city Latin schools were also tolerated, although they 
could not maintain the standards of the Gymnasieu. Here 
then were two kinds of schools outside of the gymnasial sys- 
tem and sufficiently in disrepute to cater to the needs of the 
new industrial classes. 

Up to 1855 the free growth of these schools was persistently 
and perversely checked by university scholars and state offi- 
cials. But after the change in administration 

Their Official ^^^^ Real-^chool soon received full recognition. 

Kecogaition. *-' 

By ministerial order of October 6, 1859,^ two 
classes of Bealschulen were instituted. Schools of the first- 
class (Eealschulen I. Ordnung) were permitted to give a full 
nine years' course in Latin with a total of 44 week-hours. 
French was allotted 34 week-hours ; German, 29 week-hours ; 
geography and history, 30 week-hours ; mathematics, 47 week- 
hours — as opposed to 17, 20, 25 and 32 week-hours respect- 
ively in the Gymnasium. As a still further offset for Greek 
20 week-hours in English and over 30 week-hours in the 
sciences were added to the Bcal-^ohool course. 

The Realscliule II. Ordnung was left largely dependent 
upon the goodwill of local communities. It might teach 
Latin, but it did not receive official recognition unless it con- 
formed to the official standard. And herein was an especial 
cause of discontent. Latin was an indispensable prerequisite 
for admission to the civil service, and in most instances it was 
a condition of entrance to the higher industrial and technical 
schools. With rapidly increasing industrial demands a school 
was needed which should give a systematic and comprehensive 
training in modern languages, mathematics and the natural 

' The text of the order is given in Wiese-Kiibler, Verordnungen und 
Gesetze, Pt. I, pp. 70-84. 



RE00N8TRUGTI0N OF THE HIGHER SCHOOLS 105 

sciences. This result was fully attained in 1882/ when the 
Prussian government gave the Eealschule I. Ordnmig the 
title of Realgymnasium and elevated the burgher school to 
the rank of OherrealscMile. Graduates of these schools were 
also given certain privileges in the universities, schools of 
technology and the civil service. 

The revision of the higher-school programs in 1882 appar- 
ently left little to be desired. In a way peculiarly German the 
problems of secondary education were worked 
out to a logical conclusion. But seeds of discon- ^fsT^sT*^ 
tent had been sown. The i?e«^-schools were 
popular — too popular for their own best interests — and they 
increased rapidly in number and in the attendance of pupils. 
Their adherents soon began to press for additional privileges 
and thus incur the enmity of the Gymnasien. The classical 
schools on the other hand had been strengthened on the side 
of modern languages and the natural sciences to the disad- 
vantage of Latin — a reform most displeasing to the ultra- 
humanists. The outcome was the famous School Conference 
of December, 1890, in which the young Emperor took so prom- 
inent a part and which led to the revised programs of 1892. 

The last act in the educational drama presents very clearly 
the underlying motive in all the reforms of the century. The 
tendency has been to nationalize the school sys- German schools 
tem and to make it the principal support of the for German 
state. In Prussia the state government is mo- Youth, 
narchical ; hence the upholding of the crown is the patriotic 
duty of the schools. Wliatever may be thought of the political 
aspects of this principle, it certainly conforms to the ideas of 
modern German statesmen ; it is the natural evolution of the 
nineteenth century. The Emperor stated the case admirably 
in his opening address to the Conference : '^ The main trouble 
lies in the fact that since 1870 the philologists have sat in 
their Gxjmnasien as leati iwssidentes, laying main stress up- 
on the subject-matter, upon the learning and the knowing, 

' See Wiese-Kubler, Verordnungen und Gesetze^Vi. 1, pp. 110-161. 



106 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

but not Tipon the formation of character and the needs of life. 
Less emphasis is being placed upon practice {koiinen) than 
theory {kennen), a fact that can easily be yerified by looking 
at the requirements for the examinations. Their underlying 
principle is that the pupil must, first of all, know as many 
things as possible. Whether this knowledge fits for life or 
not is immaterial. If anyone enters into a discussion with 
these gentlemen on this point and attempts to show them 
that a young man ought to be prepared, to some extent at 
least, for life and its manifold problems, they will tell him 
that such is not the function of the school, its principal aim 
being the discipline or gymnastic of the mind, and that if 
this gymnastic were properly conducted the young man 
would be capable of doing all that is necessary in life. I am 
of the opinion that we can no longer be guided by this doc- 
trine. 

'^To return to schools in general and to the Gymnasium in 
particular — I will say that I am not ignorant of the fact that 
in many circles I am looked upon as a fanatical opponent of 
the Gymnasium, and that I have therefore often been played 
as a trump-card in favour of other schools. Gentlemen, this 
is a misapprehension. Whoever has been a pupil of a Gym- 
nasium himself, and has looked behind the scenes, knows 
where the wrong lies. First of all, a national basis is wanting. 
The foundation of our Gymnasium must be German. It is 
our duty to educate men to become young Germans, and not 
young Greeks and Romans. We must relinquish the basis 
which has been the rule for centuries, the old monastic edu- 
cation of the Middle Ages, when Latin and a little Greek 
{ein Mssclien Griecliiscli) were most important. These are 
no longer our standard ; we must make German the basis, 
and German composition must be made the centre around 
which everything else revolves.^^^ 

This is the aim of secondary education in Germany. There 
may be a difference of opinion on how best to attain it, but 

^ Educational Review^ I., pp. 202-203. 



RECONSTRUCTION OF THE HIGHER SCHOOLS 107 

on the whole the Emperor speaks for the German people. 
The problem of the future is the preservation of the national 
culture and the satisfaction of the practical needs of an in- 
dustrial people. 

The purpose of this rapid sketch of the history of secondary- 
education in Germany has been attained if it has demonstrated 
the proposition that the German school system 

T . . ... T , Conclusion. 

IS a living, progressive institution that has 
changed from age to age in response to the changing ideals of 
successive periods. At no time has it been a finished product 
which could be studied apart from the political, social, indus- 
trial and spiritual conditions of the people by whom it has 
been supported and for whom it still exists. It is the natural 
evolution of forces inherent in the German life ; it is the re- 
sult of a process of adaptation to German environment ; it is 
an educational product peculiar to the Fatherland. 

General Eeferences : — Wiese, Das hohere Schulwesen in Preussen^ 
3 vols., Berlin, 1864-1873; Wiese-Kiibler, Verordnungen und Gesetze fur 
die hohe7'e Schulen in Preussen^ 3d ed., 2 vols,, Berlin, 1886-1888 ; Ronne, 
Das Unterrichts-Wesen des Preussischen Staates, 2 vols., Berlin, 1855 
Paulsen, Geschichte des Gelehrten Unterrichts, Leipzig, 1885 (a new 
and enlarged edition of this excellent work has been recently issued) 
Ziegler, Geschichte der PddagogiTc mit hesonderer Riicksicht aiif das hdher 
Uvterrichtswesen^ Vol. T., Pt. I., of Baumeister's Handbuch der Erzie 
hungs iind Unterrichtslehre, Munich, 1895 ; Rethwisch, Deutschlands ho- 
heres Schulwesen im neunzehnten Jahrhundert, Berlin, 1893 ; Ceniralblait 
filr die gesammte Unterrichts- Verwaltung in Preussen ; and the Encyclo- 
pedias of Schmid and Rein. 



CHAPTER V 

THE PRUSSIAN SCHOOL SYSTEM 

It will be apparent from the foregoing sketch of the his- 
tory of education in Germany that no absolute uniformity in 
the school systems of the various states is to be 
^^LmTType^^'" exp^tcd. There are marked political and re- 
ligious differences between the north and the 
south ; even the racial characteristics of the people are not 
the same in all parts of the Empire. But the unquestioned 
supremacy of Prussia in imperial politics assures her also the 
first place in educational affairs. However much the smaller 
states may object to Prussian leadership it remains a fact 
that the German Empire is little more than Prussia en- 
larged. In considering the German school systems, there- 
fore, I shall take the Prussian system as the standard and 
refer to the other states only as the differentiation makes it 
imperative. 

In Germany, as in the United States, educational affairs 
are directed by state officials in accordance with govern- 
mental policy, custom and laws. The school- 
temSutSn. laws of somc of the states have been codified, 
but in general this has been found impossible 
in the larger states owing to the variety of interests and the 
strength of tradition. In Prussia, for example, many at- 
tempts have been made to secure the passage of some general 
measure which would at least simplify existing customs, but 
without success. Either the pro|)ositionhas been too bureau- 
cratic to suit the citizen party, too ecclesiastical to please the 
liberals, or too radical to secure the vote of the catholics. 

108 



THE PRUSSIAN SCHOOL SYSTEM 109 

The foreigner who would familiarize himself with the Prus- 
sian school system finds here the first serious obstacle ; vol- 
umes of ministerial rescripts and official instructions are 
placed at his disposal, but there is no knowing how much of 
it all is a dead letter. And even a German is not quite sure 
till he has the minister's word for it. 

In Prussia, as in most of the German states, the control of 
the schools is exercised through governmental orders and in- 
structions that proceed from the Department of Education. 
The government, however, is not absolute in its powers. 
Limits are set by the constitution of the Prussian state. 

Frederick William I. first claimed the right of jDutting the 
schools under state control, and in 1794 Frederick William 
II. issued the Allgemeine Landreclit, the char- 
ter upon which are based all school ordinances The Basis of 
and regulations. Its most important articles ^^^^^^ ^^^^'^• 
are as follows : 

1. Schools and universities are state institutions charged 
with the instruction of youth in useful information and 
scientific knowledge. 

2. Such institutions may be founded only with the knowl- 
edge and consent of the state. 

3. All public schools and educational institutions are under 
the supervision of the state and are at all times subject to its 
examination and inspection. 

4. No one shall be denied admission to the public schools 
on account of his religious belief. 

5. Public-school children cannot be compelled to attend 
religious instruction at variance with their own creed. 

6. Public schools designed to give instruction in the higher 
arts and sciences enjoy all the rights of corporate bodies. 

7. These rights are vested in governmental boards in ac- 
cordance with the existing school regulations of the dis- 
trict. 

8. Boards appointed by the state are charged with the im- 
mediate direction and supervision of schools. 

9. Where the appointment of teachers does not rest with 



110 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

certain persons or corporations because of foundations or 
special privileges it belongs to tlie state. 

10. Even where the immediate supervision of such schools 
or the appointment of teachers is left to certain private per- 
sons or corporations new teachers cannot be appointed, nor 
can any important change in organization or methods of in- 
struction be made, without the knowledge and consent of the 
provincial school-boards. 

11. Only persons of sufficient knowledge, good morals and 
sound judgment can be chosen for supervising officers. 

12. Overseers must earnestly seek to dissuade young peo- 
ple from attempting intellectual work beyond their ability. 

13. On the other hand they should encourage and sup- 
port students of superior ability in the prosecution of their 
studies. 

14. No native pupil shall be dismissed from a public 
school without a certificate signed by the teachers and school 
authorities showing the nature of his school work and his 
moral deportment. 

15. Such a certificate shall be deemed an essential pre- 
requisite for admission to the university. 

16. The selection of the school which the child shall at- 
tend belongs primarily to the father, who is, however, to 
the extent of his ability, specially charged with the duty of 
securing for his child a religious training and a practical 
education. 

17. Teachers of Gymnasien and other higher schools are 
considered officers of the state. 

The Allgemeine Landrecht asserted, in vigorous and une- 
quivocal terms, the authority of the state in all educational 
affairs. It was the first-fruits of the civic ideal ; it meant the 
complete removal of the schools from clerical control and the 
restriction of private venture. The traditions of a thousand 
years were brushed aside with a stroke of the pen, but general 
acceptance of the spirit of the law was long delayed. It was 
the work of half a century to harmonize these principles with 
public opinion. 



THE PRUSSIAN SCHOOL SYSTEM 111 

In 1850 it was decreed that ^'All religions organizations 
•shall order and administer their own affairs independently 
[subject, of course, to the general laws of the 
state — a point made clear by special enactment ^^^catioL°8^ 
in 1873], and shall remain in enjoyment of all 
their educational and charitable enterprises and foundations,^' 
and further that '^^ Everyone is free to give instruction and 
to conduct educational institutions provided he first proves 
to the satisfaction of the proper state officials that he has the 
requisite moral, scientific and professional qualifications." 
So much is conceded to private venture, but at the same time 
it was affirmed that '' Sufficient provision for the education 
of the young shall be made by means of public schools," and 
that " All educational institutions, public and private, shall 
be under the supervision of authorities appointed by the 
state." 

The national ideal was still further realized by the school 
laws of 1872, which provided that all private schools should 
be subject to regular and systematic inspection by state offi- 
cials, the same as public schools. In effect the present regula- 
tions permit any licensed teacher to conduct a school, but the 
government through its inspectors will see to it that every 
such school maintains at least the minimum standard of the 
corresponding grade of public schools. The private or sec- 
tarian school may surpass the public school, but it dare not 
fall behind. Thus in all essential respects it is a part of the 
public school system save that it draws no support from pub- 
lic funds. 

The central authority in Prussia, charged with the admin- 
istration of the school system in accordance with these prin- 
ciples, is the Minister for Religious, Educational 
and Medicinal Affairs (Minister der geistliclien, ^^etem/ 
UnterricMs- mid Medicinal- A ngelegenlieiten). 
He is a cabinet officer and responsible only to the crown ; 
yet any deviation from tlie principles above mentioned would 
surely occasion factional controversy, if not parliamentary 
inquiry. The rule of precedent is binding. More than one 



112 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

minister has lost his place for attempting reforms too much at 
variance with established customs. As the court of last re- 
sort, the minister's chief function is to hear and determine 
appeals from the decisions of lower departmental officers. 
The rescripts and decrees of the Minister of Education thus 
become the basis of school administration in all parts of the 
kingdom. 

The Minister of Education is dependent on the crown for 
his appointment and retention in office. He is usually a jurist 
by profession^ a politician and diplomat by 
^ EdmiaUon* ^ f o^cc of circumstanccs. He represents his de- 
partment in the Prussian parliament, and in- 
troduces bills pertaining to its interests, for the enactment of 
which he is held, in a great measure, responsible ; in fact the 
tenure of his office is often conditioned upon 

Tli6 I^iuistBr 

the passage of a bill on which the government 
has set its heart. His individual obligations are numerous. 
He has charge of the financial affairs of his own department ; 
appoints, witli the approval of the crown, counsellors and 
other officials ; confers titles upon teachers, ratifies their ap- 
pointments and makes promotions, except where this right 
has been granted to other authorities ; and he is the court of 
final appeal in all matters connected with this branch of gov- 
ernment. 

The duties of the department as a whole cover a broad 
field. It controls examination requirements and the privi- 
leges dependent upon them in all schools ; determines tlie 
course of study ; regulates tuition fees ; fixes the salaries and 
has charge of the pensioning and retiring of teachers. 

Properly speaking, Prussia has no Minister of Education. 
The ministry has three general departments, one each for 

educational, ecclesiastical and medicinal affairs. 

The Department of Education is presided over 
by an under secretary and two chief assistants {DireMoreii), 
and on these officers, assisted by nineteen (in 1897) special 
counsellors ( Vortragende Rate), devolves the general adminis- 
tration of the school system. And within the department 



THE PRUSSIAN SCHOOL SYSTEM 113 

itself there are two main subdivisions. One has charge of 
the common schools, normal schools, high schools for girls, 
and institutions for the education of defective children ; the 
other division has the supervision of higher education, chiefly 
in the universities and secondary schools. 

The immediate administration and supervision of second- 
ary-school affairs is intrusted to provincial school-boards 
{Provincial-Schulcollegien), thirteen in num- 
ber, one in each of the provinces of East Prus- gchroiToTrds 
sia. West Prussia, Brandenburg, Pomerania, 
Posen, Silesia, Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein, Hanover, AVest- 
phalia, Hesse-Nassau, the Rhine Province, and the Hohen- 
zollern Territory. 

The President of the province ( Oher-Prdsident) is chair- 
man ex officio of the board. Since he is a jurist and usually 
unfamiliar with pedagogical affairs, his place is 
generally taken by the governor of the district 
in which the provincial capital is located. The board is 
composed of from three to five trained inspectors, who are 
selected by the minister from a long list of prominent prin- 
cipals of secondary schools. They receive their appoint- 
ment from the crown and hold office till retired in regular 
order. The senior member, who is chief administrative 
officer, generally directs gymnasial affairs, a second member 
has oversight of the Realschulen, and a third of the Volk- 
schulen. 

According to the instructions of 1817 the duties of the 
provincial board are prescribed as follows : 

1. The supervision of all pedagogical matters -QxiUQs 
appertaining to educational institutions. 

2. Revision of plans and ordinances of schools and educa- 
tional institutions. 

3. Examination of new regulations, and the revision of 
those already in force (including disciplinary laws, etc.) ; 
also giving advice for rectifying manifest abuses and supply- 
ing apparent needs. 

4. Examination of the text-books in use, and, with the 

8 



114 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

consent of the ministry, the discontinuation of unsuitable 
ones and introduction of others. 

5. The compilation of new text-books, which, however, 
cannot be printed without the consent of the minister. 

6. Eegulations for conducting the leaving examinations 
{Maturitcitsprilfung) and revision of the reports of the same. 

7. Inspection, revision, and direction of those higher 
schools which admit to the university. 

8. Appointment, dismissal, suspension, and discipline of 
higher-school teachers (not directors). 

The provincial school-boards are required to send to the 
Minister of Education once in three years a full report of 
their administration. They must make also an annual re- 
port of the higher schools, giving lists of graduates with their 
chosen occupations, the record of school attendance, the 
financial conditions of the various schools, etc. A semi- 
annual report concerning trial teachers, their location, pro- 
ficiency and prospective movements, is also required. Copies 
of all important decisions must be immediately sent to de- 
partmental head-quarters. In short the provincial boards are 
expected to keep the minister fully informed of the state of 
school affairs throughout the provinces. 

The provincial school-board, it will be seen, does not ex- 
amine and certificate teachers. In order to avoid too great 

centralization and to place an effectual check 
^■coSSs?fon!° on favouritism, that responsible duty is assigned 

to a special body of experts — the Wissenscliaft- 
liclie Prilfungs-Commissioji ; and, further, in order that this 
examination commission may be in closest touch with the 
latest scientific research and best scholarship of the times, its 
members are selected from the faculties of the state uni- 
versities. Occasionally, however, it happens that a promi- 
nent director of a secondary school, or a provincial school 
inspector, is chosen to represent some subject of which he is 
a recognized master. The duty of this commission is to pass 
upon the scholarship of the candidates for teachers' positions 
in the secondary schools ; other means, as will be seen later 



THE PRUSSIAN SCHOOL SYSTEM 115 

on, are taken to test the aj^plicants^ practical ability to teach. 
The mere fact that leave to teach in the Prussian secondary 
schools depends upon the approval of two distinct authorities, 
one representing scholarly attainments, the other professional 
skill, places the Prussian teacher at once in the front rank of 
his profession. 

The examination commission has some ten to twenty mem- 
bers, one or more members for each subject in which a can- 
didate may be examined. These members are 
appointed by the Minister of Education for a 
term of one year. The seat of the commission is always a 
university town. East and West Prussia have but one com- 
mission, Konigsberg ; Silesia and Posen also unite in Bres- 
lau. 

Prussian law requires that religion be taught in all schools ; 
it provides, too, that each communion not only shall have 
the right to conduct schools of its own under the general laws 
of the state, but also shall be privileged to inspect the re- 
ligious instruction in the public schools. The General Su- 
perintendent of the Evangelical Church in each province is 
specially charged with the duty of visiting each secondary 
school at least once in six years and reporting to the pro- 
vincial school-board on the religious conditions of the schools 
visited, the character of the work done and changes that 
seem to be desirable. 

A similar privilege is granted the Catholic Bishops, who are 
also expected to report upon their findings. It should be 
understood, however, that these clerical in- „ . . * 

' , ' Supervision of 

spectors have no right to attend other classes Religious 
than those in which their own religious faith is Affairs, 
taught. Catholics, for example, may not visit classes even 
in religion taught by evangelical masters, much less classes 
in other subjects of the school course. As a matter of fact 
this office, though highly prized by the church for the sake 
of its privileges in case of emergency, is becoming more and 
more formal with each decade. To-day its chief function is 
to approve of suitable text-books for religious instruction 



116 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

and to advise with the provincial board on minor changes in 
the course of study. 

Secondary schools under royal patronage are, as a rule, ex- 
clusively in charge of the provincial school-boards. But for 
some years there has been a tendency to dimin- 
4. Local School jgj-^ jt^q number of these university preparatory 
schools with a view to the diminution of the 
'^ educated proletariat," as Bismarck called that large class in 
Germany who, though well-educated, are nevertheless unable 
to turn their knowledge to any practical account. This 
has touched local pride and in many cases has actually proved 
a stimulus to municipal ambition. The result has been the 
establishment within the last few years of many schools by 
cities and local organizations. This method of establishing 
schools gives rise to what are known as local school-boards 
which exercise more or less authority in their regulation — that 
is, when the school is wholly supported at municipal expense, 
the local board assumes control of all matters externa pertain- 
ing to the school ; where the community merely assists in 
the maintenance of a public school the local officers then ex- 
ercise joint rights of administration with the officers of the 
government. But in all internal regulations the state has 
exclusive power. 

The membership of local boards {Schuldcputatmi) varies. 

It usually consists of a standing committee of one to three 

. ^. members of the city council, called the Maqis- 

Organization. . , . ^ 

trat, including the mayor (a government ap- 
pointee), a like number of elective councilmen, and the same 
number of citizens elected for a long term of years. In some 
cities, however, the Magistrat assumes full charge of local 
secondary-school affairs ; sometimes, as in Berlin, Stettin, 
Magdeburg, Breslau and Dantzic, they choose an advisory 
member as inspector of schools, a city superintendent {Stadt- 
scliulrat) who is paid for his services. 

Other schools are those under private patronage, whether 
founded by persons of wealth, by philanthropic associations, 
or by the church. To the patrons of such institutions certain 



TEE PRUSSIAN SCHOOL SYSTEM 117 

rights and privileges are granted by royal charter. These are 
often seriously at variance with modern usage, but in a coun- 
try so dependent on tradition as Germany custom prevails. 
The higher schools, being for the most part of more recent 
foundation, suffer less in this respect than do the elementary 
schools, where patrons, in some instances, have not only the 
right of nominating teachers and modifying the course of 
study, but even of setting the school hours before eight in the 
morning and after four in the afternoon, in order that the 
children may labour during the day in the interests of their 
landlords. 

The powers of local school-boards, and of trustees of most 
schools under special endowment, are limited principally to 
the choice of the kind of school they will have, 
the nomination of teachers, and the supervision ^^'^Boards'°^^^ 
and direction of certain external affairs, such 
as the managing of school property, looking after the order 
and equipment of school premises and the necessary furnish- 
ings and repairs, the drawing up of the school estimate, the 
regulation of tuition fees, free scholarships, and other matters 
involving financial obligations, and representing the town at 
the annual examinations and school celebrations. 

State schools are in no wise beholden to local authorities. 
They look directly to the provincial school-boards, to the 
minister, or to the crown. The city schools, too, when once 
in operation, are independent of local control or influence in 
all matters pertaining to their internal affairs. The local 
school-board may found a school, provide books and appara- 
tus, adopt a schedule of salaries (which must be at least as 
good as the state schedule), and select a director and teachers 
(but only from the approved official list) — all with the knowl- 
edge and consent of the state authorities. But here its priv- 
ileges end. The city may not inspect the school work, may 
not cut down appropriations, may not effect any change in 
the curriculum nor compel the introduction of a single text- 
book ; in short the chief privileges of local boards of educa- 
tion in respect to established city schools are to nominate 



118 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

teachers and pay the bills. And these claims do not cease 
with the teacher's retirement from active work. The state 
pensions its superannuated teachers ; the city cannot do less. 
Nor can a city alter its contract to the disadvantage of any 
teacher or employee. It must perform all its obligations to 
the letter ; should it fail, the state will step in and raise the 
necessary funds by special assessment of city property. 

Private schools exist to supply a temporary lack of educa- 
tional facilities. The state will not consent to the establish- 
ment of such schools where the public schools 
^"IchJoif "^^ suffice. They must comply with all the regu- 
lations of the state in regard to equipment and 
the conduct of the work. The course of study, the methods 
employed and the teachers must all be approved by the pro- 
vincial school-board, to whom regular reports must be made. 
A provincial school inspector likewise conducts the leaving 
examinations in case special privileges are attached, as for ex- 
ample the right of one-year voluntary service in the army. 

The chief responsibility in the administration of second- 
ary-school affairs, it will be seen, rests with the members 
of the provincial school-board. The central authority, the 
Mi7iisterium, formulates plans and inaugurates reforms, but 
even in such matters the provincial school inspectors usually 
have a voice. They are in daily communication with the 
actual work of the schools and test annually the attain- 
ments of the pujDils. They know, therefore, at first hand 
the particular and most urgent needs of the schools, and 
are qualified to advise the ministry from facts of which they 
are personally cognizant. Furthermore, as will be explained 
in a later chapter, the provincial inspectors are indirectly 
responsible for the immediate conduct of the schools. With 
them rest the appointment of all teachers, the transfer of 
teachers from one school to another and the power to effect 
changes that will tend to make the schools individually more 
efficient. Americans are familiar with the possibilities for 
good inherent in the office of superintendent of city schools ; 
the Prussian school inspectors are really *^ superintendents" 



THE PRUSSIAN SCHOOL SYSTEM 119 

with greatly increased powers. They are picked men, chosen 
especially with a view to the importance of their office and 
the peculiar qualifications demanded by it. The provincial 
school-boards are, in my opinion, the main-stay of the Prus- 
sian school system. 

One often hears it said — indeed, it has been half -apologeti- 
cally remarked to me by a high official in the Prussian Edu- 
cational Department — that Prussia can never 
have a well-organized school system. Her ter- pr^,'^^'rsystem. 
ritory is unusually diversified, ranging from the 
low sandy dunes of the north to the mountains of the south ; 
the east is distinctively agricultural, the west industrial and 
commercial ; some provinces are protestant, others mainly 
catholic. With such varied interests there is small chance of 
a school system strictly uniform in all its parts. Saxony and 
some of the other smaller states are pointed to with pride as 
being so homogeneous that one method of administration 
serves all sections. It is true that the schools of the smaller 
states are governed directly from the capital, the inspectors 
belong to the ministry and the entire administration is beauti- 
fully centralized. But, I think, the average American will 
agree with me that it is fortunate for the cause of education 
in Prussia that centralization cannot be carried to the extreme. 
The provincial school-boards, as mediators between the schools 
on the one hand and the ministry on the other, perform a 
function of inestimable value for the well-being of the Prus- 
sian state and for general educational progress in the Empire. 

The higher schools of the smaller German states are con- 
trolled by a central board, usually a bureau of some state de- 
partment, presided over> by a minister of the ^^^ 
crown. Much the same conditions obtain as 
in a Prussian province, and the central educational depart- 
ment is similar in function to the provincial board of Prussia. 
There is, however, this important distinction : the smaller the 
state the greater the power of the government for good or 
ill ; the larger the state the more chance for local influence. 
The distinctive peculiarity of the Prussian system is its semi- 



120 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

independent provincial boards, certain members of which are 
exclusively concerned with the management of secondary 
schools. They maintain the balance between extreme cen- 
tralization and local option. The provincial inspector of 
schools is the very heart of the Prussian higher-school system. 

General References : — Wiese, Das hohere Schidwesen in Preussen ; 
Wiese-Kiibler, Gesetze und Verordnungen ; Baumeister's Ilandhuch der 
Erziehungs- und Unterrtchtslehre, Vol. I., Pt. II.— Die Einrichtung und 
Verwaltung des hohereyi Schidivesens in Prewssen, u. s. w.; Mushacke's 
Schulkalendar — Statistisches Jahrhuch der holier en Schulen und heilpdda- 
gogischen Anstalten Deutschlands. 



CHAPTER VI 
THE HIGHER SCHOOLS OF PRUSSIA 

German'Y is nothing if not military. The school system 
is pervaded by the military spirit ; many of the teachers are 
reserve officers, most of the pupils hope to be, 
and all know that army service awaits them at spirit. ^'^^ 
the end of the school days. The really impor- 
tant problem for the school-boy's consideration is whether he 
shall serve for two years as an ordinary conscript living in 
the barracks, a servant to some superior, or whether he shall 
serve but one year, living where he will and always standing 
in line of promotion. This latter privilege is a prize most 
alluring to the German youth ; it can be won only by suc- 
cessfully completing a six-year course in an approved higher 
school (Hohere Schnle). 

There is perhaps no better criterion of what constitutes 
a higher school from the German point of view than the re- 
quirements for the one-year volunteer service 
in the army. This school differs from the ele- Higi^^r schod. i 
mentary school in that it offers instruction be- 
yond the necessities of life ; it differs from the technical 
school in that its aim is a liberal education ; and it prepares 
for the university and institutions of scientific research. An 
approved higher school must teach at least two foreign lan- 
guages, geography, history, German literature, mathematics 
and natural science. 

Technological and trade schools (Geiverbe wid FachscJiu- 
le7i), agricultural schools {Landwirtscliaftschulen), normal 
schools {Sclmllehrer- nnd Lelirerin7ien'8eminarien) and mil- 

121 



122 GERMAN HIQHETt SCHOOLS 

itary schools {Cadette?i- Corps) are, therefore, outside of the 
scope of the present work. The conditions imposed above 
give the following classification of the higher schools of Ger- 
many : 

1. Gymnasien and Progyimiasieti. 

2. Realgymnasien and Realprogymnasien, 

3. OherreaUclmlen, JRealsclixden and Hbhere Burgerschule^i. 

4. Special schools with approved curricula. 

The aim of the Oym7iasiimi is " to prepare its students 

through a broad humanistic training for the independent 

study of the arts and sciences. ^^ Paulsen says, 

1 The Prussian ,, rj.j .^g^| ^f ^j^^ ^^^ education is a human 

Gymnasium. 

being whose faculties enable him to form a 
clear and definite conception of the actual world ; who, by 
virtue of his will, is able to recognize and follow his original 

bent ; whose imagination and fine emotions 

Its Aim 

are trained to the perception of the beautiful 
and the heroic. This is a man in the full sense of the word : 
this is true humanistic culture." At all times the aUgemeine 
ivissenscliaftliclie Bildung of the pupil is to be regarded as 
the chief function of the Gymnasieii. Recently the term 
Humanistisclie Gymnasien has been employed to differen- 
tiate these schools from the Realgymnasien, which have 
given somewhat more attention to the practical side of edu- 
cation. 

The Prussian Gymnasium has nine classes in three divis- 
ions of three classes each. The lower classes are Sexta, 
Qninta and Quart a ; the middle classes, Un- 
tertertia, Ohertertia and Untersecunda ; and 
the upper classes, Ohersecunda, JJnterprima and Oherprima. 
One entire school year is given to each class. Admission to 
the Gym7iasium requires that the pupil be at least nine years 
of age, and that he shall have had a three years' preparatory 
course in reading, writing, arithmetic and religion. This 
preparatory training may be obtained in the elementary 
schools, private and public, and in the special Vorsclmlen 
connected with many Gymnasien. 



THE HIOHER SCHOOLS OF PMUSSIA 



123 



The curriculum (Lehrplan) of the Gymnasien, as of all 
public schools, is outlined by the government, but consider- 
able freedom is left to the school and to in- 
dividual teachers both in the selection of ma- 
terial for instruction and in the methods of presentation. 
Two general divisions are made in the subjects of the course : 
(1) Wissenscliaftliclie Fdcher, under which are classed relig- 
ion, the German language and literature, Latin, Greek, 
French (English and Hebrew as electives), history and geog- 
raphy, mathematics, and natural sciences ; (2) Kilnste unci 
Fertigkeiten, including drawing, writing, singing and gym- 
nastics. The course of study, as prescribed by ministerial 
rescript of January 6, 1892, for the Prussian Oy7nnasien, is 
as follows : 



Lehkplan of the Prussian Gymnasien. 



Subjecta. 



Religion , 

German and J 

History Stories . . ( 

Latin , 

Greek 

French 

English (Elective) 
Hebrew (Elective) . 

History and 

Geography 

Mathematics . . . 

Natural History. 

Physics, Elements 

of Chemistry and 

Mineralogy 

Writing 

Drawing 

Singing 

Gymnastics 

Totals, 



VI. 


V. 


IV. 


III6. 


Illa. 


lift. 


Ila. 


I&. 


la. 


3 


2 


2 


2 


2 


2 


2 


2 


2 


8 


8 


3 


2 


2 


3 


3 


3 


3 


7 


7 


7 


7 


6 


6 


6 








6 


6 


6 


6 


6 


6 






4 


3 


3 


3 


2 


8 


2 


2 


2 


IH 


!j3 


fh 


?}3 


3 


8 


3 


4 


4 


4 


3 


3 


4 


4 


4 


4 


2 


2 


2 


2 


•• 






•• 












2 


2 


2 


2 


2 


2 


2 
2 


2 


2 


2 


•• 




•• 


•• 


2 


2 














, 


3 


3 


3 


8 


3 


3 


3 


3 


3 


30 


30 


31 


33 


33 


33 


31 


31 


31 



Total 
Week- 
Hours. 



34 



283 



The gymnasial curricula of the other German states are 
closely modelled after the Prussian type. The southern states, 
however, as is indicated in the following com- ^ ^ ^ ,^ ^ 

' , ^ In Other States. 

parative table of week-hours, show a disposition 
to give relatively more time to the classics and less to mathe- 
matics and science. 



124 



GERMAN HIOHEU SCHOOLS 



Comparative Table of Gymnasial Curricula. 



Subjects. 


Prussia. 


Bavaria. 


Saxony. 


Wiirtem- 
berg. 


Hamburg. 


Weimar. 


Religiou 


19 

26 

62 

36 

19 

26 

34 

10 

8 

4 

8 


IS 
27 
66 
36 
10 
25 

1 33 

5 
4 

4 


20 
25 

71-73 
40—42 

IS 

29 

33 

\ - 

3 
4 


18 
24 
81 
40 
18 
24 
33 

14 

4 

7 


18 
21 
69 
36 
19 
28 
29 

16 -j 

4 

10 


19 
23 


Latin 


72 


Greek 


40 


French 

History and Geography. . 


18 
28 
30 


Physics 


8 




10 


Writing 


4 
6 






Totals (exclusive of Sing- 
ing and Gymnastics) . . 


252 


228 


258-62 


263 


250 


256 



Progymnasium. 



Position of the 
Gyrauasium. 



The Progymnasien are Gymnasien lacking some of tlie 
higher classes. Tliey are usually found in the smaller towns, 
where few pupils remain after completing the 
six years' course required for one year's volun- 
tary service in the army. Those pupils who would naturally 
advance into the upper classes are sent to some neighboring 
town. Hence, as a rule, the Progymnasien have only the 
lower and middle classes, i.e., a six years' course. 

The Oyrnnasien are the classical preparatory schools for 
the universities. All roads to the learned professions and to 
the higher posts in the civil and military ser- 
vice lead out from these schools. Historically, 
they are the centre and strength of the German 
school system ; and while schools of a different nature have 
been established with a view to modern economic needs, pop- 
ular prejudice is so strong that only graduates of the Gym- 
nasien are regarded as cultured. The classics may be a fet- 
ich, but for the German mind they have a charm too 
powerful to be easily broken. ^' The classical literature is, 
and will continue to be, the source of all our culture. It 
must remain, therefore, not only an indispensable, but by 
far the most important study in our higher schools." This 
thought, expressed a century ago by Frederick Gedike, the 
first Oherschulrat of Prussia, has been the guiding principle 
of the Gymnasien to the present time. 



THE HIGHER SCHOOLS OF PEUSSIA 



125 



In 1897 there were in Germany 439 Gymfiasien and 92 
Progymnasien, of which 277 Gynuiasien and 53 Progym- 
7iasien were in Prussia. Bavaria stands next 
with 40 Qymnasien, and Saxony and Alsace- NumberBand 

'J ^ J Attendance. 

Lorraine each have 17 ; Wiirtemberg has 16 
Oymnasien and 3 Progy^miasien ; Baden, 14 of the former 
and 2 of the latter. The other states of the empire have 
from 1 to 9 each. In 1895-96 the attendance at the Prussian 
Gyvmasien was 76,078, and at the Progymnasien, 4,544, 
or about fifty-seven per cent, of the total number of pupils 
in the secondary schools. 

'^ The aim of the Realgymnasieny as of the humanistic 
Gymnasien, is to give the youth a liberal education founded, 
however, especially on instruction in the mod- 
ern languages, mathematics and the natural ReSmnasium. 
sciences." The class divisions and the general 
requirements are the same as in the Gymnasien, but the cur- 
riculum is somewhat different. English takes the place of 
Greek, and more time is devoted to French and the natural 
sciences. The Lehrplan of these schools in Prussia is as fol- 
lows : 



Lehrplan op the Prussian Realgtmnasien. 



Subjects. 


VI. 


V. 


IV. 


III6. 


Illfl. 


116. 


Ila. 


16. 


la. 


Total 
Week- 
Hours. 


Religion . . 


3 


?}3 

8 

[^ 

4 
2 

*2 
2 
2 
3 


2 

3 

7 
5 

4 
2 

2 
3 


2 

3 

4 
5 
3 

5 
2 

2 

■3 


2 

3 

4 
5 
3 

IV 

5 
2 

2 

■3 


2 
3 
3 

I 
\V 

5 
2 
3 

2 
■3 


2 

3 

3 
4 

3 

5 
'3 

"2 

'3 


2 

3 

3 
4 

3 

3 

5 

■3 
2 

"3 

'3 


2 

3 

3 
4 
3 

3 

5 

'3 
2 

2 

"3 


19 




28 




Latin ... , . 


43 


French 


31 


English . 




18 


History and 

Geography 


2 

4 
2 

2 

2 
3 


28 




42 


Natural History 


12 


Physics 

Chemistry and Mineralogy. 
Writing 


12 
6 
4 


Drawing 

Singing 


16 
4 


Gymnastics 


27 






Totals 


30 


30 


32 


33 


33 


33 


33 


33 


S3 


290 



126 



GERMAN HIOHER SCHOOLS 



In accordance with the recommendation of the King and of 
the Berlin Conference of December, 1890, the Prussian min- 
istry has persistently souglit to do away with the 
Government^ Realgymnasieu. As a consequence, the attend- 
ance at these schools has decreased and some of 
them have adopted another curriculum. But even in Prus- 
sia, Realgyiiuiasien still exist, and are likely to outlive the 
King who signed their death-warrant. Saxony has always 
stoutly defended the Realgy?miasie?i, and, in fact, the southern 
states in general support them with greater liberality than 
does Prussia. This is evident in the following comparison of 
the number of week-hours allotted to the different subjects in 
the various states. 



Comparative Table op Realgymnasial Curricula. 



Subjects. 


Prussia. 


Bavaria. 


Saxony. 


Wiirtem- 
berg. 


Hamburg. 


Weimar. 


Religion 


19 
28 
43 
31 
18 
28 
42 
12 
12 

6 
4 
16 


18 
27 
60 
20 
13 
26 
38 

I 

5 

4 

23 


21 

29 
54 
34 
18 
30 
44 
12 
12 

6 
3 

18 


14 

20 
741.^ 
27 
11 

59 

8>^ 

8>i 

2 
5 

25X 


18 
28 
53 
24 
19 
25 
38 
18 
11 

8 
4 
18 


18 


German 

Latin 

French 


27 
54 
32 




20 


History and Geography. . 


30 
44 


Natural History 

Physics 

Chemistry and Mineral- 
ogy 


12 
12 

6 


Writing 

Drawing 


4 

18 






Totals (exclusive of Sing- 
ing and Gymnastics) . 


259 


247 


281 


277>2' 


264 


277 



The Realgymnasium arose to supply an actual wan.t in the 

German school system. Yet from the beginning tradition 

has retarded its progress, and whatever gains 

Re^gymnaeium. ^^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^® *^^® results of loug and 

persistent struggle. Its curriculum is of es- 
pecial interest to Americans, inasmuch as it more nearly 
corresponds to the course of study of the American high 
school. The likeness is even more striking when Greek is 
admitted as an elective, as is the case in some Realgymiiasien 
of Alsace-Lorraine. The policy of retaining the Realgym- 



THE EIOHER SCHOOLS OF PRUSSIA 127 

7iasium, and tlie pedagogical principles involved, will be cTis- 
cnssed in a subsequent chapter. It is sufficient to say at this 
point that graduates of the Realgymnasium are admitted to 
university courses in mathematics, the natural sciences 
and modern languages, and to all technological schools. 
They are, however, denied admission to the professions of 
law, medicine and theology, and to certain coveted positions 
in the civil service. The slight put upon this school, es- 
pecially by the Prussian government and the medical fra- 
ternity, serves to retard its progress and hamper its useful- 
ness. 

There are in Germany 128 Realgymnasien and 93 Real- 
prog ymnasie7i. Of the former there are 85 in Prussia, 10 
in Saxony, 5 in Bavaria and 3 in Wlirtemberg ; 
of the latter, Prussia claims 6? and Wiirtem- ^"ttendancf 
berg 4. In each of the other states there are 
less than 10 of both kinds. In 1896 the Prussian Real- 
gymnasien enrolled 24,534 pupils, the Realprogymnasien 
6,465, making in all twenty-three per cent, of the total num- 
ber of higher-school pupils in the kingdom.^ 

Higher schools in which the classical languages are not 
taught are called Realscliulen. Their normal number of 
classes is six ; the Olerrealsclmlen, however, have three ex- 
tra classes. The term Hohere Bilrgerschulen, as applied to 
approved higher schools, is fast falling into disuse ; it prop- 
erly belongs to a high-grade elementary school. The Real- 
scliulen aim to fit their students for more ef- 
fectual and intelligent participation in the ac- Re^scimien 
tual business affairs of life ; hence they place 
particular emphasis on the modern languages and the natu- 
ral sciences. Graduates of the 01 er realscliulen are admitted 
to university courses in mathematics and the natural sciences, 
and may eventually become teachers of these branches in the 
secondary schools. On the whole, their social standing is 
about on a par with the graduates of the Realgymnasien ; 

* Statistisches Jahrbuch der hoheren Schulen^ 1897-1898. 



128 



GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 



both are commonly looked upon as inferior to the classical 
student. It is the special policy of the Prussian ministry 
to multiply the number of these schools at the expense 
of both the Gymnasien and the Realgymnasien, Their 
students are prepared to follow practical lines of activity, 
and to them the nation looks for leaders in industrial pur- 
suits. 

The curriculum of the Prussian OberrealschuUn is as fol- 
lows : 

Lehrplan of the Prussian Oberrealschulen. 



Subjects. 



Religion 

German and j 

History Stories ( 

French 

English 

History and 

Geography 

Mathematics 

Natural History . . . 

Physics 

Chemistry and Min 

eralogy 

Writing 

Free-Hand Drawing 

Singing 

Gymnastics . . 

Totals 



VI. 


V. 


IV. 


III&. 


Ilia. 


116. 


II(f. 


16. 


Ic(. 


3 


2 


2 


2 


2 


2 


2 


2 


2 


\' 


V'* 


4 


3 


3 


3 


4 


4 


4 


G 


6 


6 


6 


5 


4 


4 


4 








5 


4 


4 


4 


4 


4 


\' 


2 


l\^ 


l\^ 


l\^ 


?[a 


3 


3 


s 


5 


5 


6 


6 


5 


5 


5 


5 


5 


2 


2 


2 


2 


2 


2 




.. 












2 


2 
2 


3 
3 


3 
3 


3 
3 


2 


2 


2 
















2 


2 


2 


2 


2 


2 


2 


2 


2 


2 
















3 


3 


3 


3 


3 


3 


3 


3 


3 


30 


30 


31 


33 


33 


33 


33 


33 


33 



Total 
Week- 
Hours, 



Numbers. 



Prussia had, in 1896, 26 Olerrealschulen and 60 Real- 
schulen ; Wiirtemberg had 6 Oherrealscliulen, Baden had 3, 
Alsace-Lorraine had 3, and Oldenburg and 
Brandenburg each had 1 ; in the other states 
tliere were no schools of this kind. Bavaria had 46 Real- 
sclmlen ; Saxony, 23 ; Wiirtemberg, 9 ; Baden, 14 ; Hesse, 
16 ; Alsace-Lorraine, 8 ; and all the remaining states, 22. 
This gives a total of 40 Oherrealschulen and 198 Realschulen 
in the empire. 

The Lelij'plmi of the Oherrealscliulen of Wiirtemberg for 
the last nine years of the course assigns to religion 19 week- 
hours ; German, 28 ; French, 55 ; English, 18 ; history and 
geography, 28 ; mathematics, 83 ; natural history, 10 ; phys- 



THE HIGHER SCHOOLS OF PRUSSIA 129 

ics and chemistry, 10 ; writing, 6 ; and drawing, 25. The 
other states follow more closely the Prussian plan. 

High schools attended by both sexes are unknown in Ger- 
many. Coeducation, so far as it exists at all, is restricted 
to the Volkssclmlen, where the pupils are under 
fourteen years of affe. In fact, the secondary ^' <^*^er second- 

° ^ •^ ary Schools. 

education of gu'ls is largely a matter of con- 
venience. In Prussia there are 568 higher schools for boys, 
and only 128 for girls. Of the boys' schools 272 are sup- 
ported wholly or in part by the state ; while only four girls' 
schools receive any state aid.^ This means 
that girls' schools are almost exclusively under 
city patronage, or on special foundations, or exist for private 
gain; and, as a natural consequence, there is little uni- 
formity in respect either to curriculum or methods. More- 
over, uniformity has been unnecessary, since no special 
privileges have been attached to graduation from a girls' 
higher school. Women are not wanted in the university ; 
hence there is no need of a gymnasial course of study. 
They are worthless as soldiers ; hence no advantage in a 
specified curriculum that grants the privilege of one year of 
voluntary service in the army. Nevertheless, some needed 
reforms have been brought about within the past four or five 
years. ^ 

An association of women teachers {AUge7nei7ier Deutscher 
Lehrerinneyi-Verein) was formed in 1890 for the express 
purpose of advancing their professional standing. Their 
main object was to obtain the right to teach in the higher 
classes of the Hohere MddclienschuUn. It was argued that 
young women in the advanced grades of the secondary 
schools should not be taught exclusively by men ; the sub- 

' Cf. Wychgram, Handhuch des hoheren 3fddchenschulwesens^ Leipsic, 
1897, p. 55. 

2 See : Von der Decken, Die gehildete Frau und die neue Zeit^ Got- 
tingen; Ichenhauser, i)te Ausnahmestellung Deutschlands in Sachen des 
Frauenstudiums^ Berlin; and files of Die Frauenhewegung^ Die Frau and 
Neue Baunen, 




130 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

jects of religion, German and history at least, it was modestly 
suggested, could be satisfactorily presented by women. But 
this involved the problem of university train- 
TeTherf "^S ^^^^ womcn. Candidates for the position of 
teacher are required to pass a state examination ; 
and in order to do this there must be adequate preparation. 
Women with the indiscriminate training of a girls' higher 
school could not aspire to the positions occupied by univer- 
sity men. 

The first step, therefore, toward a fixed curriculum for 
these schools was taken under the necessity of knowing with 
what sort of preparation women should undertake higher 
study. 

A ministerial rescript, dated May 31, 1894, fixes a curricu- 
lum for the Hohere Mddclienschulen, It also provides for 
the appointment of women to any position in 
^^irr schoX*^^ the upper grades, and requires that a woman 
be made associate principal in case a man is 
the head of the school, and that one of the three head teach- 
ers in any event be a woman. This is the first important 
concession made to women teachers by the Prussian govern- 
ment ; and it fixes the minimum standard of the preparation 
expected of them. 

Up to 1897 only thirty-nine girls' schools had been placed 
under the jurisdiction of the Prussian provincial school- 
boards, and thus given equal rank witli the higher schools 
for boys. By far the larger part of girls' schools are thereby 
relegated to the rank of MitteUcJmUn, or high grade ele- 
mentary schools ; but for all schools in which two foreign 
languages are taught there are now the same ideals and a 
common standard. The activity and persistency manifested 
by the various organizations of women is turning public 
attention to the education of girls. There is promise of 
better things in the near future. The curriculum of the 
girls' higher schools in Prussia is as follows : 



THE HIGHER SCHOOLS OF PRUSSIA 



131 



Lehrplan of the Prussian Hohere Madciienschulen. 



Subjects. 



Religion 

German 

French' 

English 

Arithmetic 

History 

Geography 

Natural Sciences 

Drawing 

Writing 

Sewing, etc 

Singing 

Gymnastics 

Totals 



Lower 
Division. 



IX. VIII. VII 



18 



22 



Middle 
Division. 



VI. V. IV 



30 



30 



Upper 
Division. 



III. II 



30 



30 



24 

54 

27 

12 

24 

10 

14 

12 
10 (8) 

7 (9) 

14 
12(18) 
IS (12) 



238 



Pupils enter the Mddchenschulen at six years of age, there 
being no special Vorsclmlen, as for the boys^ schools. The 
course of nine years, therefore, places the school in the same 
class as the Progymnasien, Eealjjrogymnasien and Real- 
schulen, which graduate their students normally at the age 
of sixteen years. 

The reader may inquire whether German girls receive no 
school training after they are sixteen. According to the pres- 
ent Minister of Education, a twelve years^ course 
of uninterrupted study would make such de- Government.^ 
mands on the mental and physical powers of 
the girls that after graduation they would be unfitted for 
lifers work. ^^ It is further to be presumed that a girl who 
has gathered as much knowledge as is possible in a nine years' 
course under the favorable circumstances which now obtain 
in the Hbliere Madciienschulen will feel the need of special- 
izing in particular branches, without being compelled to pur- 
sue studies for which she has no special liking or talents. '^ 
Those who advocate the higher education of women pro- 
nounce such manifestoes as merely another way of saying 



132 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

that men must continue to monopolize all positions in tlie 
learned professions. 

The first attempt to give graduates of the Hohere Mdd- 

cliensclmlen a complete gymnasial training was made in 

Berlin, where a school was organized for the 

Girls' Gymnasien. . r\ l ^ -, nrxn xxi • i 

purpose m October, 1893. It has smce been 
conducted by Friiulein Helene Lange, one of the foremost 
advocates of women's rights in Germany. The school aims 
to fit graduates of the Holiere Mddclienscliulen in four years 
for the Abiturienten-Examen, which carries with it the priv- 
ilege of university study. It remains to be seen, however, 
whether the Prussian universities will open their doors to 
women, even though they are as well qualified for entrance as 
young men. Some of them have already conceded the point, 
but many obstacles are yet to be overcome before it can be 
said that the German universities are coeducational insti- 
tutions. 

In 1893 a girls' Gymnasium was also opened at Carlsruhe, 
under the ausioices of the Frauenbildung -Reform- Verein. 
Pupils entering this school must be at least twelve years of 
age ; and after one year's preparation in a connecting class, 
they are exjiected to finish the regular classical course of the 
boys' school in five years. A similar school was established 
at Leipsic, in April, 1894, by the Allgejneiner Deutscher 
Frauen- Verein, under the principalship of Friiulein von 
Windscheid, the first woman to receive the degree of Ph.D. 
from the University of Heidelberg. The course is four years, 
and pupils must be fifteen years old at entrance. A similar 
school is under way in Munich. 

In all these schools the curricula are planned to supplement 

the earlier training of the girls, that they may graduate on a 

level with the boys of the Gymnasien. They 

^]^vers?ty!^^ are recognised by the authorities to the extent 

of being allowed to exist, and it is probable 

that some means will be found to enable their graduates to 

continue their work at the universities. Heidelberg already 

admits women to the department of Science-Mathematics, 



THE HIGHER SCHOOLS OF PRUSSIA 133 

and grants tliem the degree of Ph.D. if all the work has been 
done there. Gottingen allows women as ^''auditors," and has 
granted several Ph.D.^s to women. Freibnrg admits women 
as gnests in tlie departments of philosophy and medicine. 
Leipsic permits them to register and pay tuition fees, but 
professors have no legal right to receive them in the lecture- 
rooms. " We simply don^t see them, if they happen to be 
there," a member of the faculty once naively remarked to 
me. All other German universities do not tolerate women at 
all, or hedge the privilege about to such an extent that very 
few can secure entrance.^ 

The public day schools of Germany are so peculiarly Ger- 
man, such perfect expressions of the national policy in edu- 
cation, that little is heard of that other class 

, . _. T T ^ . . , ^ Private Schools. 

SO prominent m England and America — the 
boarding-school. It exists, nevertheless, and is no less Ger- 
man than the former. There are private institutions, too, 
of all grades, though but few are recognised as ^^ schools." 
The higher education of girls is mostly in private hands, or 
supported only in part by the community. In the city of 
Hamburg, for example, with 11 public and 7 private higher 
schools for boys, there are for girls 5 public and 65 private 
secondary schools. Of the Berlin higher schools, 38 are 
for boys and 32 for girls ; all of the boys' schools are pub- 
lic, but only 9 of the girls' schools receive any state or city 
aid.2 

Church schools — evangelical, catholic and Jewish — are 
plentiful and generally have boarding departments. Schools 
for backward pupils, and commercial and tech- 
nical schools, are usually private or local. But 
of all the influences which tend to promote private schools 
for boys the strongest is the privilege of the one-year volun- 

' See Die akademische Frau : GutacTiten hervorragender Universitdts- 
professoren^ Frauenlehrer und Schriftsteller iiher die Befdhigung der 
Frau zum wissenschaftlichen Studium und Berufe^ edited by Kirchbof, 
Berlin. 

2 Statistics of 1893. 



134 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

teer service in the army ; this may be secured only on the 
completion of a six years' course of study in a privileged 
higher school, or upon examination by a governmental board. 
It is possible for students dropped from the public schools, 
or for those who, from choice or necessity, would take a 
shorter course, to find instruction in private institutions 
whose sole aim is to fit for the state examination. As before 
stated, these are not '^ schools '"^ from the German point of 
view, but Fabriken or Presse^i — either term being suggestive 
enough of the methods employed. 

The necessity for private venture in the education of girls 

naturally gives rise to many *' finishing^' schools, in which 

social rank plays a conspicuous role. The more 

Boarding-schools. ^ *" / ti i • -4.4. 

pretentious the rank, the more likely is it to 
be a boarding-school. Many of these schools are under the 
honorary protection of the various German courts, and there- 
by enjoy decided popularity. Institutions for the education 
of backward pupils, as those for orphans and others of char- 
itable aim, are naturally home schools. At the head of such 
institutions stands the renowned Franchesche Stiftungen in 
Halle, a group of schools of different grades for orphans of 
both sexes. But the question of home accommodations for 
higher school pupils, irrespective of sex, class or condition, 
is really more serious than in America. In Germany there 
are some 25,000 post-offices, each of which represents a cen- 
tre of population. The pastor, physician and school-master, 
not to mention wealthy peasants and government officials, 
may aspire to give their sons the higher training. But in all 
Germany there are but 1,173 privileged higher schools, and 
tlie condition is made still clearer when one learns that the 
twenty-five largest cities have two hundred and eight of these 
schools. Or, to put it in another way, there are in Germany 
about 2,500 cities and towns of over 2,000 inhabitants, and 
these have less than forty per cent, of the total population. 
The number of boys that must leave home at nine or ten 
years of age to begin their university preparation is presum- 
ably greater than in the United States, where the 4,500 high 



THE HIGHER SCHOOLS OF PBUSSIA 135 

schools have a total enrolment not appreciably larger than 
obtains in the German schools. But because of the uniform 
excellence of the public schools, and from motives of econ- 
omy, the average country lad will make his home with a 
family residing near a public school which he enters as a day 
pupil. 

The better grade boarding-schools are recruited mainly 
from two sources, the nobility and the commercial class. The 
gymnasial course leading to the university and to the highest 
posts in the army and civil service will naturally be sought 
by the former ; the aim of the latter is to secure the privi- 
lege of but one year of army service and a practical prepara- 
tion for business life. 

Private venture schools are not suffered to exist in Ger- 
many unless they satisfy an actual public need, and have the 
ability to maintain the governmental standard. 
They must also conform to the prescribed cur- p^^i'^J"^^^^^^^ 
ricula for secondary schools, if they would se- 
cure the privileges granted to schools of that grade. Girls' 
schools in general, and boys' schools, too, beyond the fixed 
requirements, may exercise considerable freedom in regulat- 
ing their work along special lines. 

The German school system is not designed to lead pupils 
step by step from the kindergarten to the university, to 
form a connected series of grades, each of 
which is the natural development of the pre- ^""^'sctoor "^ 
ceding one. The elementary and secondary 
schools are quite independent of each other. It is true that 
certain Mittelsclmlen, technological and trade schools, receive 
pupils from the Volkschulen, but not one boy in ten thousand 
finds his way from the highest class of the elementary school 
into the Gyvuiasium. The parent is obliged to choose a 
school for his nine-year old son, and on this selection depends 
in a large measure the boy's future career. The necessity of 
practically determining the trend of a boy's education before 
his personality is adequately known, places a responsibility 
upon many parents which they cannot properly discharge. 



136 



GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 



Errors of judgment often result in the transference of pupils, 
after two or three years of training, from one kind of school 
to another better adapted to their abilities. The difficulties 
thereby encountered are obvious from a comparison of the 
various courses of study outlined in this chapter. 

In Frankfort-on-the-Main a noteworthy attempt has been 
made, since Easter, 1892, to remedy these evils, and at the 

same time to infuse more life into the studies 
The Frankfort ^£ ^^iq secondary schools by introducing shorter 

and more intensive courses. The plan, as de- 
signed by Dr. Karl Reinhardt, Director of the Stddtisches 
Gymnasiiwi, prescribes the same curriculum during the first 
three school-years for the Gymnasmvi, the Eealyyinnasium 
and the Oberrealschule. In this way transference is compara- 
tively easy between all schools for three years ; and between 
the Gymnasium and the Reedy ymnasiwm it is possible as 
late as the beginning of the sixth school year. Inasmuch as 
the Frankfort plan has received the sanction of the Prus- 
sian Department of Education, and has been adopted in many 
places, it deserves mention here among the curricula of the 
approved higlier schools. 



Lehrplane of Frankfort Gymnasium and Realgymnasium. 



























Total 




VT 


V. 


TV 


III6. 


Ilia. 


II&. 


Ila. 


I&. 


la. 


Week- 


























Hours. 


Subjects. 


























Gym. & 


RG. 


G. 
2 


RG. 
2 


G. 
2 


RG. 
2 


G. 
2 


RG. 
2 


G. 
2 


RG. 
2 


G. 
2 


RG. 
2 


G. 

2 


EG. 
2 


G. 

19 


RG. 


Religion 


3 


2 


2 


19 


German 


5 


4 


4 


8 


3 


3 


3 


3 


3 


3 


3 


3 


3 


3 


3 


31 


31 


Latin 








in 


8 


10 


8 


8 


6 


S 


« 


8 


6 


8 


6 


52 


40 


Greek 
















8 




8 




8 




8 




32 




French 





6 





2 


4 


2 


4 


2 


3 


2 


3 


2 


3 


2 


3 


30 


38 


English 


















6 




4 




4 




4 


.. 


18 


History and 




































Geography, . . 


2 


2 


5 


3 


8 


3 


3 


2 


3 


2 


3 


2 


3 


3 


3 


24 


27 


Mathematics . 


5 


5 


5 


4 


4 


4 


4 


3 


4 


4 


5 


4 


5 


3 


b 


3'( 


42 


Natural History 


2 


2 


2 


2 


2 


2 


2 


















10 


10 


Physics 








.. 








2 


3 


2 


2 


2 


2 


2 


2 


8 


9 


Chemistry 




















.. 


2 




2 




2 




6 


Writing 


k 


2 




















.. 








4 


4 


Drawing 




2 


2 


2 


2 


2 


2 




2 




2 




2 




2 


8 


1« 


Totals 


25 

1 


25 


26 


28 


28 


28 


28 


1" 


32 


31 


32 


31 


32 


31 1 32 


255 


■^m 



THE HIGHER SCHOOLS OF PRUSSIA 137 

In the lower classes French is strongly emphasized, and is 
taught with special reference to the Latin that follows. Latin 
is introduced in the third year and studied only comparison 
six years, and Greek is reduced to four years, with Regular 
As compared with the regular gymnasial pro- C'^^ses. 
gram, the mother-tongue gets ten more week-hours ; Latin, 
twenty-five hours less ; Greek, eight hours less ; mathematics, 
three hours more ; French, nine hours more ; history, four 
hours less ; drawing, two hours more. The aim is to arrive at 
results as good as those attained by following the regular 
course, the difference being in the method of procedure. 
The final outcome of the scheme is awaited with intense in- 
terest both by its friends and foes. On its success or failure 
depends a possible solution of one of the most important 
pedagogical problems before the German educationists of the 
present time. 

General References : — Wiese-Kiibler, Gesetze und Verordnungen ; 
Lelirpldne und Lehraufgahen filr die hoheren Schiden, Berlin, 1893 ; 
Schwartz, De7' Orgmiismus der Gymnasien in seiner praJctischen Gestal- 
tung^ Berlin, 187G ; Statistisches Jahrbuch der hoheren Scliulen Deidscli- 
lands ; Kunze, Kalendar filr das hohere Schnlivesen Preiissens^ Breslau, 
1894; Wychgram, Ilandhuch des hbhereji Blddchenschulwesens^ Leipsic, 
1897; Lange, EyiUvicMung und Stand des hoheren MddchenscJndwesens in 
Deutschland^ Berlin, 1893 ; Reinhardt, Die Frankfm'ter Lehrpldne, Frank- 
fort, 1892 ; Centralhlatt^ and Encyclopedias of Schmid and Rein. 



CHAPTER VII 

FOUNDATION AND MAINTENANCE OF HIGHER SCHOOLS 

The Gymnasium was originally founded by the Chiircli as 
a professional school for the training of the clergy. It was 
intended to teach especially what was consid- 
Gymnasium^ cred neccssary for a priest of the Church to 
know. The languages of the Bible and of the 
Church Fathers — Latin, Greek and Hebrew — were all-im- 
portant, Latin above all others. Under the influence of the 
Renaissance and the Reformation these schools assumed a 
more general character, and yet in Germany their main pur- 
pose was unaltered. The Protestant Church, inspired with 
the worth of each immortal soul, demanded for its ministers 
a more liberal education than had been deemed necessary for 
the clergy of the Church of Rome. Schools prepared to af- 
ford this training — the highest in the land — in time were 
opened to any one who desired a preparation for the higher 
intellectual life. The sphere of their influence was extended, 
while their main purpose remained as before. 

Many of the early ecclesiastical foundations remain at the 
present day. The oldest of the existent classical schools of 
Germany was founded in Fulda in the eighth 
^^^^Ixfstent'"" century. It is still catholic, although now 
supported by the Prussian government. The 
Gyjnnasmm at Osnabriick, known as the Carolinum, was es- 
tablished under charter of Charles the Great, dated Decem- 
ber 19, 804. Another interesting old school, founded by the 
Roman Church in the first quarter of the ninth century, is 
the Gymnasium of Hildesheim. It was taken over by the 

138 



FOUNDATION OF HIGHER SCHOOLS 139 

Jesuits in 1595, and is still supported by the Ohurcli. Of the 
other catholic Gymnasien of modern Prussia, one was found- 
ed in 1450, another in 1474, and seven between 1545 and 
1580. The comparatively large number of classical schools 
still in existence which were established in the latter half of 
the sixteenth century is an interesting commentary on the 
work of the Jesuits. In addition to those already mentioned, 
no fewer than twenty-one of the present Prussian Gymnasien 
were originally on catholic foundations, but went over to the 
protestants at the time of the Reformation. One of these 
schools (Zeitz) had been established as early as 968 — two in 
the twelfth century, five in the thirteenth, nine in the 
fourteenth, one in the fifteenth, and three in the sixteenth. 
For example, the city Gymnasium of Konigsberg was found- 
ed in 1335 by the municipal authorities as a parochial school 
in connection with the Roman Catholic Church. Under the 
influence of the head-master who was in charge from 1518 
to 1541, himself a convert to Luther's preaching, it became 
a protestant Latin school. The Kneipfliofisches Gymnasitom 
(Konigsberg), founded probably as early as 1304 as a ca- 
thedral school, went over to the Lutherans at about the same 
time. The Kbllnisches Gymnasium of Berlin, probably the 
oldest classical school of the province, has been protestant 
since 1540. The present site of the Berlin Gymnasium zum 
grauen Kloster belonged to the Franciscans from 1290 to 
1539, when the monastery was closed. Elector Johann 
Ceorge afterward presented one-third of the cloister to the 
present Gymnasium^ which opened for the first time in 1574. 
It is something to be thankful for that in those days ^^con- 
science money '^ went for educational purposes. 

Schools on protestant foundations date, for the most part, 
from the sixteenth century. The steady progress of educa- 
tion and the extension of the school system un- 
der the guidance of Luther and Melanchthon ^'^gSooif ""^ 
are evident from the number of schools still ex- 
isting in Prussia which sprang up in the sixteenth century. 
Three of the leading protestant Gy^nnasien of modern Prussia 



140 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

were established prior to 1530^ five others between 1530 and 
1540, twelve between 1540 and 1550, and twenty-four others 
before the close of the century. The majority of these schools 
were supported by the municipalities in which they were 
located. Occasionally one received special endowment from 
some wealthy citizen. Two in particular deserve special 
mention : one, Pforta, which owes its origin to the generos- 
ity of Duke Maurice of Saxony, who endowed it in 1543 with 
the Cistercian Abbey of St. Mary's, on the banks of the Saale, 
not far distant from Naumburg, the other, Rossleben, a clois- 
tral school founded in 1554 by a nobleman of the province. 
I shall make mention later of some of the striking character- 
istics of these two old boarding-schools. 

There are in Prussia at the present time two hundred and 
seventy-seven Gymnasien. Of this number it will be seen 
that seventy-seven, or nearly one-fourth, were es- 
prs2n1chooi8. tablished before 1600. In the seventeenth cen- 
tury only thirty-three of the now existent Prus- 
sian Gymnasien were established, and most of these were on 
catholic foundations. Some of the notable exceptions are 
the Joacliimstlialsches Gymnasium of Berlin (1607), the 
FrancJce'sclie Stiftungen in Halle (1695-1697) and W^^Fran- 
zosisclies Gymjiasium of Berlin (1689). 

Mention should be made in this place of some of the re- 
nowned schools of the other German states. There is so 
much of the life of the German people, so many 
interesting facts connected with their history, 
stored up in these venerable institutions, that I find myself 
seriously tempted to stray from the narrow lines of this chap- 
ter. The Filrstenschulen of Meissen and Grimma in Saxony 
stand side by side witli Pforta as monuments of the Elector 
Maurice. Then in Leipsic are the famous Tliomas-Scliule 
(1221), and the Nicolai Gymnasium which was founded by a 
bull of Boniface IX. in 1395. Hamburg boasts of the 
Gelelirtensclmie des Johanneums, of which Johann Bugen- 
hagen, Luther's apostle to the low Germans, was the first 
master. The protestant Gymnasium of Strassburg dates 



FOUNDATION OF HIOHER SCHOOLS 141 

from 1538, when Sturm began his work in that city. Tubing- 
en, Stuttgart, Municli, Augsburg, Wiirzburg, Niiremberg, 
and many other cities of South Germany have schools that 
have come down from the sixteenth century. 

The tendency in Prussia, as indeed in all the German 
states, has been for the government to absorb schools on 
special foundations, and by taking over their 
endowments to make them purely state schools. ^"^jJnistration 
In some instances this has been done with a 
view to the equalization of school funds ; but inasmuch as 
there is no comprehensive school law in Prussia many serious 
complications still continue. There are schools existing by 
special charter which have done a great work in the past, yet 
whose fu'nds are now so depreciated that retrenchment must 
follow if state aid cannot be secured ; there are schools estab- 
lished by municipalities to which the government makes 
annual grants ; there are state schools supported in part by 
local rates ; there are others which have several sources of 
income. This mixed state of affairs, which often renders it 
necessary to search back to records even five or six hundred 
years old in order to settle some detail of administration, is 
very unsatisfactory to the school and highly exasperating to 
the officials. An inspector once told me of a village school 
in his jurisdiction the teacher of which must look to eighteen 
different sources for his small income. He gets a fee for be- 
ing church chorister ; something more for conducting an 
evening continuation school ; and even observances long obso- 
lete, such as personally greeting all the families of the vil- 
lage on Christmas day, have each their particular cash value. 
Now when custom decrees that Christmas calls are no longer 
the mode, how is the poor school-master to get that portion 
of his salary which is dependent on this labour of love ? Such 
problems are of vital interest — to the school -masters — and 
the government cannot pass them by. But it is no easy task 
to adjust these old legacies to modern requirements ; often 
special acts of Parliament are necessary to overcome condi- 
tions imposed by charters centuries old. There are weak 



142 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

Gymnasien, too, that would gladly become Realscliulen, save 
that some clause in a charter centuries old requires that 
Latin be taught in that school for all eternity. Between 
giving up Latin and abandoning the foundation there can 
be no question. The dead hand rules. Herein are some 
of the disadvantages of tradition. 

The lower schools are often hampered by the uncertain 

boundary between the rights of the clergy — also a survival of 

the times when the schools were wholly under 

In Elementary the coutrol of the church— and the duties of 

Sctioola . 

the state inspectors. Conflicts are by no means 
rare, especially in Roman Catholic communities ; and the 
Minister is careful to avoid establishing any new precedent 
in these matters which might give rise to political compli- 
cations. 

The secondary schools are more fortunate. Difficulties 

increase with the number of patrons, but as a rule there is 

a precise understanding as to the rights of 

^^ZZtr^ patronage. The enormous growth in the 
population of German cities since 1870 has 
rendered necessary the establishment of large numbers of 
secondary schools. Rivalry between competing cities, or the 
effort to build up a new suburb, is sure to create a demand 
for additional school facilities. For example, Berlin had 
in 1872 a population of 864,300 ; in 1893, 1,691,702. During 
these twenty years there was an annual average increase of 
more than 6,000 in the school population. This necessitated, 
besides many common schools, the establishment of nineteen 
higher schools, practically an average of one secondary school 
a year.^ 

A dozen instances of phenomenal growth of city population 
could be cited that would compare favourably with the most 
phenomenal of our western American towns.^ I shall men- 

' Eeport of Scliul- Deputation of Berlin, April, 1894. 
2 See Shaw, The Government of German Cities^ Century Magazine^ 
Vol. xlviii. 



FOUNDATION OF HIGHER SCHOOLS 143 

tion only one. The census of Magdeburg in 1880 showed a 
population of 97,500 ; in 1890 it had increased to 202,234. 
The area within the city walls became altogether inadequate. 
As a means of relief the city purchased of the Prussian gov- 
ernment the site of the old fortifications, paying almost 
enough, I have heard, to construct still stronger walls at a 
greater distance out. The city fathers immediately cut up 
the newly acquired tract into building lots, which were put on 
the market. But in order to induce a better class of resi- 
dents and to enhance the value of the land, a Gymnasmm 
was established in 1880 at city expense. At bottom this was 
a pure sj^eculation, a land-boom of the most approved type, 
and but for the rapid increase in the population and wealth 
of the locality it would have become a serious drain upon the 
city treasury. The result is, however, that a flourishing 
town lias sprung up and the city has made a fortune in the 
transaction. 

As a rule cities are disposed to found Gymnasien, rather 
than i?ea/-schools, because of the higher social standing of 
the former. The town with many ReaUclmlen, 
or even many Realgymnasien, is popularly sup- Tg^^g^^Ls. 
posed to be an industrial centre ; while Gijm- 
nasien, on the contrary, invariably bespeak a professional or 
wealthy class. Often the conflict between city and state 
waxes warm over the kind of school to be established. The 
state cannot compel the city to found one school rather than 
another ; in fact, it cannot compel the foundation of any 
school at all. But if the city proposes a plan counter to the 
policy of the government, some exceptionally strong support, 
political, social or religious, will be necessary to avoid the 
Minister's veto. It is no simple matter for a town nowa- 
days to secure an additional classical school. In the words of 
the Emperor, the times demand ^' young Germans, upright. 
God-fearing and patriotic citizens, instead of young Greeks 
and Romans. '' 

The relations sustained by the municipality to the state 
in educational affairs, and the general tendencies of the 



144 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

age, are perhaps best seen in the kingdom of Saxony. There 
are, all told, seventeen Gymnasien in the kingdom. Four 
of them — all founded prior to 1586, one dating back to the 

thirteenth century — are now under the joint 
saxony° patronage of city and state ; six are state 

schools ; two others, founded in 1300 and 1879 
respectively, are exclusively city foundations ; one has a 
special endowment (1638), and is under the administration of 
a lineal descendent of the original founder. Grimma (1550) 
and St. Afra in Meissen (1543) are Kloster 8chulen, having 
been endowed by Maurice of Saxony with the possessions of 
secularized monasteries. The two oldest Gynuiasien of Leip- 
sic, the Thomas- Scliule (1221) and the Nicolai Gymnasium 
(1395), are supported in part by special endowments, in part 
by the city. Of the ten Realgymnasien, all except two be- 
long to the present century, while the specific character of 
each has been determined within the past fifty years. Sev- 
en of these schools are municipal, only three being royal. 
Moreover, there are twenty-three Realschulen in the kingdom, 
all of them under city control. The state, however, makes a 
special grant of 12,000 marks a year to some seventeen of 
these schools — those outside of Dresden, Leipsic and Chem- 
nitz — and secures thereby the privilege of appointing the 
director and head-teachers. As to the relative interests of 
state and city in the founding of a new school, the history of 
Saxony since 1870 is very suggestive ; of the twenty-seven 
secondary schools called into existence in the last twenty-five 
years, only four are under royal patronage. 

When a city will establish a new school it enters into cove- 
nant with the state to house it properly, to provide suitable 

furnishings and equipment, and to support it in 

Foundation ofi • /. , -r)i.x!i. 

City Schools. ^ becoming way irom year to year. Uut nrst 
it devolves upon the municipality to show that 
the elementary education of the city is on a satisfactory basis, 
and that there is genuine need of a secondary school. The 
approval of the Minister of Education — and nothing can be 
done without his approval — is also conditioned on special re- 



FOUNDATION OF HIGHER SCHOOLS 145 

ports made to liim by government officials on such matters 
as, for example, the town's ability to support the proposed 
institution, and whether it might tend to weaken some other 
school already established. Approval once granted is further 
conditioned on the proper execution of essential details : the 
school site must be satisfactory ; the plans and specifications 
of the building must be submitted to the supervising architect 
of the province and passed by him ; the denominational 
cliaracter of the school, on which depends the selection of a 
faculty, must conform to the religious belief of the majority 
of the scholars ; the proposed furnishings and equipment 
down to the drinking cups and blackboard erasers must be 
of proper quality and amount. Nothing goes unregulated to 
which a regulation can be at all applied. 

Perhaps to English readers the most suggestive of all these 
requirements is the one pertaining to the school building 
and its equipment. In general the school-house 
must contain sufficient class-rooms, large, light schooi^Housef 
and well-ventilated ; an auditorium for religious 
exercises and public exhibitions ; arrangements for library, 
museums and laboratories ; teachers' assembly-room, and a 
study for the director. 

The class-rooms, according to official regulations, may not 
exceed 9.5 metres long, by 5.7 metres to 7 metres wide, by 4.1 
metres to 4.4 metres high. The teachers' plat- 
form (3.2 metres long, 1.3 metres wide, .2 metre A^rang^eJIts. 
to .3 metre high) is placed at one side of the 
room. There shall be a suitable desk for the teacher with lock- 
drawers. At the side of the platform, usually on an easel, is 
the blackboard about 3 by 5 feet. The main aisle between 
the platform and front row of desks should be at least 1 
metre wide; aisles next to the walls (and windows) at least .4 
metre wide and the central aisle at least . 5 metre wide. The 
central aisle is unnecessary except when more than six scholars 
would thereby have to sit together. This gives 3.9 to 4.3 
cubic metres air space for the lower classes, and 4.3 to 4.8 for 
the middle classes. Twice the above areas are allowed for 

10 



146 



GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 



drawing, and the auditorium should provide for 6 square 
metres floor space for each pupil. 

In 1879 the government had the space carefully measured 
which is allotted to each pupil's desk in the schools of Ber- 
lin and Cologne. The city schools of Berlin showed the most 
economical arrangement and their plan was thereupon recom- 
mended for general adoption. It is as follows :— 



Ages and Classes of 
Scholars. 


Wilhelms-Gym. 
Berlin. 


City Schools, 
Berlin. 


City Schools, 
Cologne. 




1 


P. 




^ 


S 




i 




VI. and v.— 10 to 13 Years . 
IV. and III.— 13 to 16 Years. 
II. and I.— 16 to 19 Years... 


.54 
.59 
.65 


.81 
.85 
.89 


.43 
.50 

.58 


.50 
.55 
.60 


.71 
.73 
.79 


.35 
.40 
.47 


.47 
.52 
.58 


.81 
.84 

.84 


.38 
.44 
.48 



But all such regulations are subject to modification at the 

hands of the supervising architect of the province. It is his 

business to see that the plans of local architects 

Duties of Super- ^^^ theoretically correct and practically useful. 

vising Architect. ^ ^ "^ 

He stands between the tax-payers on one side 
and the school children on the other, and seeks to protect 
both. Such an office, removed from all political influence 
and presided over by a master of his profession, is an in- 
estimable boon both to the country at large and to the proper 
administration of school affairs. 

School-houses are generally placed on quiet streets away 
from the stir and bustle of the city and in a locality furnish- 
ing good air and unobstructed light. If a suit- 
able site can be found near the centre of the 
district population, it must be given the preference. There 
must be ample play-ground in connection with each school, 
although *^ ample" means little more than standing room. 
But as the German school-boy does not indulge in many 
games, he does not require a foot-ball field except for a lei- 
surely Spaziergang. Each class, however, lays claim to a 



The School Site. 



FOUNDATION OF HIOHER SCHOOLS 147 

certain portion, and it is not unusual to find these class 
divisions staked off or posts set up therein as rallying points. 
The Turnhalle (gymnasium), as a rule, is on the school 
grounds, but it is not a lounging place for pupils during 
intermissions. The Turnlialle is intended for serious work ; 
it is the laboratory of physical culture, and as such is in 
charge of trained teachers who are as jealous of the honour of 
their department as are the teachers of Latin. The gymnas- 
tic equipment is invariably excellent and the methods of in- 
struction all that could be desired under the prevailing sys- 
tem. That the system has its faults is generally understood 
abroad; but its faults as well as its merits are so well known 
that I need not discuss them here. 

In recent years the problem of lighting has received es- 
pecial attention. It is now recognized that the window sur- 
face of a room should be at least one-fifth of . . 
the floor space, that windows should extend to 
the ceiling, and that each pupil should have a view of the 
blue sky — the more the better. Yet there is such extraor- 
dinary increase in near-sightedness from grade to grade, and 
so many suicides among school children, that repeated ofi&cial 
investigations have been made in the sphere of school hy- 
giene. " Recent Prussian statistics have shown that in four 
years three hundred boys and four hundred and nine girls 
under fifteen years committed suicide. The near-sighted- 
ness became so serious that the Minister of Education, von 
Gossler, asked Dr. Schmidt-Rimpler, the celebrated ocu- 
list in Gottingen, to draw up a list of recommendations for 
diminishing near-sightedness, so prevalent in the German 
schools. The regulations were as follows : (1) Teachers 
must acquire a knowledge of school hygiene ; (2) that a 
medical attendant should be attached to the school staff and 
practically inspect not only the school building, but the in- 
dividual pupils ; (3) sending practical instructions to the 
pupils to inform them of the position of the body in reading, 
writing and studying ; (4) abolishing the afternoon session 
so far as possible and allowing greater exercise in the open 



148 GERMAN HIOHER SCHOOLS 

air ; (5) abolishing written tasks at home ; (G) not allowing 
the school course to extend over too many years/^^ 

Minute regulations are laid down for heating and venti- 
lation. In almost all of the older buildings the rooms are 
heated separately by means of stoves, and from 

Ventilation. . "^ -^ "^ -^ -i ^ ^i ^-i ^• 

experience 1 can say that the ventilation is 
uniformly bad. In many of the better buildiugs the stoves 
are placed adjoining the corridors and so arranged that they 
may be supplied with fuel and regulated from the outside of 
the room. A glass-covered slit in the wall also allows the 
janitor to see the thermometer — an indispensable part of the 
furniture of every German school-room. In this way it is 
possible to adjust the heating and ventilation without dis- 
turbing the class. The buihlings constructed within the 
last five or ten years are nearly all heated by steam or hot 
water, and every precaution is taken to secure proper venti- 
lation. In passing, I might mention such buildings as the 
Weimar Gymnasium, WUhelm's Gymnasium in Oassel and 
Joachimsthalsches Gymnasium in Berlin as being models of 
architectural style and liygienic precaution. 

While the foregoing regulations regarding tlie construction 
and equipment of school-houses are of a very general nat- 
ure, the system of careful inspection renders impossible any 
serious deviation on the part of contractors or municipalities 
inclined to be penurious. The government has tlie power to 
compel alterations in plans or specifications when found to 
be defective, even though they were at first approved. In 
the city schools the municipality must stand the additional 
expense of such alterations. There is, however, a small fund 
at the disposal of tlie provincial school-board which can be 
drawn upon for local benefit, and in some cases the state does 
what it might compel the city to do. 

The question of sanitary school seats is another much dis- 
cussed problem. The outcome is that a few points of agree- 
ment have been reached. Especial emphasis is placed upon 

' Report of the Commissioner of Education^ 1889-1890, p. 338. 



FOUNDATION OF HIGHER SCHOOLS 149 

leaving very little horizontal distance between seat and desk. 
Five centimetres is the maximum. It is also recommended 
that desks be arranged in rows of two each 
with a narrow aisle between, and that for each 
school at least three different heights of seats be provided 
— one for the average for each of the three divisions in the 
school. On the whole it seems to me as if the Germans with 
all their attention to school hygiene had not advanced far 
beyond the theoretic view of the problem. Seats are fitted 
to the average boy of a grade whether that boy happens 
to be there or not ; the rest must shift for themselves. The 
seating and ventilation of class-rooms are, it seems to me, 
out of harmony with the general equipment of German 
schools. 

Perhaps the most unique feature of the class-room equip- 
ment, especially to an American accustomed to slate black- 
boards completely surrounding the room, is the 
little three by five blackboard— the only one in ciass-Room 

•^ ^ Equipment. 

the room — which stands at the side of the 
teacher's j)latform. It is made of wood painted a dull black, 
and is supported on an easel ; sometimes two blackboards are 
hung on cords running over pulleys and so adjusted that they 
can easily be run up or down. Damp sponges are always used 
as erasers, thus avoiding dust. Each room is supplied with 
a stand for displaying maps and charts, and an upright wooden 
case six feet high by three feet wide in which they are stored 
when not in use. This case also serves as a receptacle for 
pupils' note-books and other articles of use in daily work. No 
German class-room would be complete without portraits of 
the reigning sovereigns and their predecessors for a genera- 
tion or two. In Prussia, Bismarck and von Moltke, Luther, 
Goethe and Schiller rank with the best. Pictures illustrative 
of the class work find a prominent place. One frequently 
finds displayed magnificent representations of classical sub- 
jects, photographs of works of classic art or charts prepared 
for special purposes. Some teachers make a practice of ex- 
hibiting large numbers of pictures and charts, which are ex- 



150 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

changed for others from time to time as the work advances. 
This is often done to good effect in history, geography and 
nature study. 

The corridors of a German school building are the meeting 
places for classes during the five-minute intermission between 
lessons. The flooring in all modern buildings is stone or tile. 
Rows of hooks are placed on the side wall for coats and caps. 
Lockers are too much of a luxury. 

The auditorium is the pride of the building. It is large 
enough to give all the pupils seats and afford accommo- 
dations for a few visitors besides. Howsoever plain the 
rest of the building may be, there is always some artistic 
effort here. In the new buildings the decorations are really 
lavish. A grand piano is the one indispensable article of 
furniture. 

The teachers^ assembly-room is provided with a long table 
and a suitable number of chairs and book-shelves. The mu- 
seums are fitted out with cabinets and shelves for the preser- 
vation of natural history specimens. The laboratories are 
each provided with a long table and seats about three feet 
apart. Attachments for gas and water are luxuries not always 
to be had. Some of the new schools have quite extensive 
laboratory facilities, but, so far as my exi^erience goes, they 
are seldom or never used by the students. 

Many of the classical schools of Germany have most excel- 
lent libraries, in some instances numbering thousands of vol- 
umes. These are supported by special endow- 

Libraries. i i • i • ii • i / , 

ments which occasionally provide for a care-taker 
as well. As might be expected, the larger libraries contain 
many volumes of little service at the present time. Works 
on classical subjects, doctors' dissertations, and sermons cele- 
brated in their day, are as numerous as Reports of the De- 
partment of Agriculture in some American libraries. Schools 
dependent upon special appropriations for the purchase of 
books have no great collections ; still every school has its li- 
brary, and it is generally a good one. The wretched method 
of cataloguing in vogue throughout Germany, and the exces- 



FOUNDATION OF HIGHER SCHOOLS 151 

sive care to exclude everyone from handling or even viewing 
the books in the cases, practically annuls the greater part of 
the benefit to be derived from the use of the books. I have 
but one judgment to pass upon the whole library economy of 
the Fatherland — public, school and university alike. It is an 
outrageous farce. The redeeming feature, however, is the 
uniformly excellent collection of pedagogical works to be 
found in every secondary school. These books are some- 
times in charge of a member of the faculty and placed in a 
separate room. But they are generally to be found in the 
teachers' assembly-room, where they can be easily consulted 
without restriction. A typical collection would contain not 
only works on general pedagogy but all the most valua- 
ble reference books pertaining to the work of each teacher 
— dictionaries, atlases, gazetteers, commentaries, standard 
texts, leading educational journals, and pedagogical mate- 
rial such as can be obtained in no other country in the 
world. These collections are supported from special grants 
annually made by the city or the government but largely 
augmented from the income of special funds set apart in 
most schools for this particular purpose ; scarcely a second- 
ary school but has a library fund to which friends of the 
institution and graduates of the school are expected to make 
contributions. 

No secondary school gives free tuition. The elementary 
schools of Germany are practically free to all and attendance 
is compulsory between the ages of six and four- ^^^ ^^ 
teen. While every child in the state must at- school 
tend school, no stipulations are made as to what -Attendance, 
school he shall attend. Until the fourteenth year, therefore, 
that is, during the first five years of the secondary school, at- 
tendance is compulsory, and the parents may be fined for any 
negligence on their part resulting in non-attendance of their 
children. But trouble rarely arises on this score in secondary 
schools. Eegularity in attendance has become so much a 
matter of habit that nothing short of serious illness keeps a 
boy from school. 



152 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

Tuition fees are exceedingly variable. According to a 
Prussian ministerial rescript of 1892, all royal schools under 
the administration of the state arc subject to 
the following schedule : — 

Gymnasien^ Realgymnasien^ and Oherreal- 

schulen 120 marks ($30) annually ; 

Progym7iasie7i, and Realprogymnasien . . ..100 marks ($25) annually; 
Realschulen. 80 marks ($20) annually. 

An effort is being made to have all city schools adopt the 
government schedule. At present, however, city schools of 

nine years' course seldom charge more than 100 
^?chooJ*^^ marks for the year ; in some cities the rates 

are still lower, in others somewhat higher. For 
instance, in Frankfort-on-the-Main 150 marks is the mini- 
mum. Saxony maintains about the same fees as Prussia. 
The southern states are lower on the average, but because of 
an ascending scale the fees in the upper classes are high. In 
Bavaria there is an official regulation fixing the fees at 30, 36 
and 40 marks respectively for the three divisions of the high- 
er schools. In Wiirtemberg the rates in most schools vary 
from 10 marks in the lowest classes to 32 marks in the 
highest classes, and rarely in any case do they exceed 70 
marks. In the city of Hamburg, on the other hand, the 
tuition fee at the Gymnasium is 192 marks. It is a gen- 
eral rule in most German states that foreigners and those 
who do not pay their full share of the local taxes shall 
pay extra school rates. Special consideration is shown to 
younger members of families already represented in the 
school by older brothers. The second son generally gets 
half-rates. 

In the government schools ten per cent, of the places may 
be free. These free places are usually granted on the basis of 

scholarship, but deserving young men with good 

recommendations are given the preference. En- 
dowed schools with home accommodations frequently have 
scholarships which entitle the holders to both lodging and 



FOUNDATION OF HIOHER SCHOOLS 153 

tuition. Scliulpforta, for instance, grants one Imndred 
and forty scholarships covering the entire expense for home 
and schooling. There are also great numbers of special 
foundations which provide for the partial maintenance of 
scholars in a certain class or in preparation for a particu- 
lar profession, as sons of teachers or clergymen, boys 
from the donor^s home or birthj^lace, and those fitting 
for the ministry. Some of the old classical schools can 
rival an English college in the number and value of their 
bursaries. 

All secondary schools, as has been said, charge tuition fees, 
but they are by no means self-supporting. There is always a 
large deficit which is met by the government, 
by the municipality, or from private funds, ac- ,, Scjiooi 

•^ ^ . . Maintenance. 

cording to the rights of patronage in the school. 
On an appointed day near the beginning of the semester the 
pupils pay their dues to a teacher or to an authorized agent 
who turns over all collections to the school treasury if it be an 
endowed school having property of its own to administer, to 
the city treasury if a city school, or to the nearest govern- 
ment depository if a state school. 

From statistics furnished by the Prussian government for 
the Chicago Exposition in 1893, we see the enormous growth 
in school expenses in the last twenty years. In 

In Prussia. 

1871 the total expenditure for the maintenance 
of the higher schools in Prussia was 7,434,646 marks ; in 
1892 it amounted to 30,918,840 marks. Of this last-men- 
tioned sum, 5,445,020 marks came from government grants ; 
1,903,304 marks, from school property ; 14,327,590 marks, 
from school fees, etc. ; 7,802,173 marks, from local rates ; 
and the balance, from special endowments. It will be seen 
from this that although the government exercises full con- 
trol of the inierna of the higher schools, it joays only about 
one-sixth of the expenses. The tuition fees alone meet 
nearly one-half of the total expenditure. 

That the German schools are economically administered is 
evident from the fact that, in 1892, 25,733,662 marks — more 



154 GERMAN niGHER SCHOOLS 

than five-sixths of the total cost of maintaining the higher 
schools — were expended in payment of teachers^ 

In the Empire. . . ^ ^ '' 

salaries. 

The average expense per pupil in the higher schools of 

Prussia was 62.5 marks in 1871 ; in 1892 it was 184.3 marks. 

The total expense per thousand of the popula- 

^p?Ti ^^'^ ^^^^ ^^^ ^^^® support of the higher schools was 

301.1 marks in 1871, and 1,032.2 marks in 1892. 

In the meantime there has been a growth of but four per 

cent, in the population of Prussia. In the face of such proof 

no words need be wasted in adducing evidence of Prussia's 

interest in secondary education. 

The Eeport of the Sclml-Bejmtation of Berlin for 1893-1894 

gives a good idea of the cost of the city schools. There was 

an attendance of 4,107 pupils in 114 classes of 

School Expenses ^j^^ ^^ RealscliuUn ; and in these schools 1G2 

in Uerlin. ' 

regular and 51 special teachers were employed. 
The expense account was as follows : — 

Ordinary expenses G08,427 M. 

Income from school fees 295,788 M. 

Deficit 312,639 M. 

Extraordinary expenses : — 

Salaries of special teachers 43,188 M. 

Care-takers 10,750 M. 

Supply teachers 1,408 M. 

Teachers of religion for nonprotestants 1,200 M. 

Printing annual announcements 2,5G9 M. 

Building and repairs 12,218 M. 

Teacliers of gymnastics 23,564 M. 

Total expense to city 407,526 M. 

The six H'dhere MddchenschuUn had an attendance in 
1893-1894 of 4,297, divided among 95 classes and in charge of 
132 teachers. The total income was 410,334 marks, of which 
407,715 marks came from tuition fees. The ordinary ex- 
penses were 484,648 marks ; supply teachers, 2,331 marks ; 
religious instruction for non-protestants, 6,480 marks ; print- 
ing annual announcements, 1,247 marks ; building and re- 



FOUNDATION OF HIGHER SCHOOLS 



155 



pairs, 13,141 marks; supervision of play - grounds, 1,832 
marks. This gave a total expense of 509,679 marks, and left 
a deficit of 99,345 marks to be borne by the city. 

The city of Berlin also supports 201 elementary schools, ^ 
school for the blind, a school for the deaf, and several nine- 
year higher schools which are under the ju- 
risdiction of the provincial school-board. The scSsy^sfem. 
cost to the city in 1893-1894 of the schools under 
the administration of the Schul-Deputation — making allow- 
ances for items placed in two accounts — may be summarized 
as follows : — 



Kinds of Schools. 


Number 
of Schools, 


Number 
of Classes. 


Attend- 
ance. 


Income : 
Marks. 


Outlay : 
Marks, 


Expense 
to City : 
Marks, 


Realschulen 

Hohere Mild Chen- 

schuleu 

VolksscJmleyi 

School for Deaf 

School for Blind 


11 

6 

201 

1 
1 


114 

95 
3,371 


4.107 

4.307 

179,621 

148 

53 


295.788 

410.334 

121,844 

719 

53.198 


6:]5,297 

484,648 

9,420,149 

56,261 

82,310 


339,509 

74,314 

9,298,305 
55,542 
29,112 


Totals 


220 


3,580 


188.236 


881,883 


10,678,665 


9,796,782 







Berlin is exceptionally liberal in the support of girls^ 
schools, but Americans or Englishmen will find it hard to 
understand the reason for expending 150,000 marks more on 
the boys than on the girls, when the girls pay nearly twice as 
much in fees as the boys pay. But girls grow only into 
women ; boys become citizens and soldiers. 



General References : Wiese, Das hohere Schulwesen in Preussen ; 
Wiese-Kubler Gesetze und Verordnungen ; Rethwisch, Deutschlands hd- 
heres Schulwesen in neunzehnten JahrhundeH^ Berlin, 1893 ; Kehrbach, 
Monumenta Germanics Padagogica^ Vols. I., VI., and VIII.; Static- 
tisches rJhhrbuch der hoheren Schulen Deutschlands^ 1897-1898 ; Central- 
hlatt fur die gesammte UnUrrichts- Verwaltung in Preussen^ Berlin. 



CHAPTER VIII 

RULES, REGULATIONS AND CUSTOMS 

. The school-year in Prussia and in tlie other northern and 
central German states is from Easter to Easter, the semesters 

beginning at Easter and Michaelmas. Large 
School-Year, institutions with parallel classes from top to 

bottom frequently admit new pupils both in the 
spring and in the fall. This gives them two sets of classes a 
half-year apart — the one designated Easter classes (Oster- 
Oberprima, Oster- U?itersecnnda, etc.); the other Michaelmas 
classes. But in Baden, Alsace-Lorraine and Wlirtemberg the 
school-year begins the middle of September and extends to 
the middle of July ; in Bavaria from the lOtli of September 
to the 14th of July. 

The historic connection of church and school is clearly 
evidenced in the modern custom of having school vacations 

at the time of the chief church festivals. In 

Prussia and most of the northern states two 
weeks are given at Easter, about one week at Whitsunday, 
four weeks in the summer — mostly in July — two weeks at 
Michaelmas, and two weeks at Christmas. Bavaria has no 
vacation at Whitsunday, and only one week at Christmas. 
This makes possible eight weeks of rest in the summer. The 
precise dates of vacations are set by the school authorities in 
each state at the beginning of each school-year. The con- 
venience of the scholars and avoidance of the heat of summer 
are the main considerations. In northern Germany it is no 
hardship to continue school work into August ; the univer- 
sities uniformly require it. In South Germany the heat is 

156 



RULES, REGULATIONS AND CUSTOMS 157 

more intense and of longer duration. But everywhere it is 
left to the discretion of head-masters to excuse classes when 
from excessive heat or cold some injury might result to the 
pupils. Most schools, on this account, are closed afternoons 
four or five times in the summer. 

The general ministerial orders are to the effect that the 
year's vacations should not exceed ten and one-half weeks, ex- 
clusive of special holidays, such as the church festivals of 
Epiphany, Candlemas, Annunciation, Corpus Christi, Peter- 
Paulstag (June 29th), All Saints, Conception of the Virgin 
(December 8th) — all of which are observed in Roman^Catholic 
schools ; the Beformationsfest, which is observed in all prot- 
estant schools ; the birthdays of the reigning sovereigns, 
Sedan day, and school celebrations. 

The morning session in the secondary schools begins regu- 
larly at seven o'clock during the summer and closes at eleven. 
In the afternoons, except Wednesdays and 

a i. 1 T • 1 +• 1 ^ ^-u • ^""^^^ sessions. 

Saturdays, which are entirely free, the session 
is from two to five. During the winter the morning session 
begins at eight o'clock and continues until twelve. This 
gives seven fifty-five minute periods a day besides intermis- 
sions. The long afternoon session is much disliked ; and in 
many schools there is a disposition to lengthen the morning 
session and do all of the heavy work before noon, thus leaving 
for afternoon the lighter work such as drawing, singing, gym- 
nastics and free electives. The school authorities, however, 
are not disposed to favour this plan, believing that continuous 
work for five hours makes too serious demands upon the 
strength of the scholars. As a result compromises are fre- 
quent. For example, the Tliomasschule in Leipsic leaves 
four afternoons of the week practically free, following five 
hours of work in the morning. On the other two days there 
are four hours of work in the morning and three in the after- 
noon, beginning at three o'clock. The city Gijmnasium of 
Frankfort-on-the-Main makes Wednesday, Friday and Satur- 
day afternoons free, following five hours of work in the 
morning. 



158 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

It is required that at least forty minutes of the day shall be 
given up to pauses. Ordinary pauses are five minutes, but 
one of fifteen minutes^ duration must be given 
at the end of every second hour. During the 
longer intermissions all scholars must leave the rooms so that 
there may be a thorough ventilation by the opening of the 
windows. Pupils generally pass out into the school-yards 
during the longer intermissions, where they walk about spend- 
ing the time in conversation. Seldom, indeed, is it that one 
sees any games or play indulged in. Teachers are appointed 
for the supervision of the corridors and school-grounds as 
regularly as for class recitations. This is the more necessary 
inasmuch as teachers exercise no supervision in their own 
rooms or classes. In fact, the rooms belong to the classes, 
not to the teachers ; it is only for drawing, singing and science 
work that the class seeks the teacher. At assembly, order is 
expected upon the ringing of a warning bell ; the second bell 
is the signal for the entrance of the teacher, who generally 
spends the intermission in the teachers' assembly-room. As 
he appears the class immediately rises and remains standing 
until the command to sit down is given. This little act of 
courtesy does not seem to be performed perfunctorily and is 
so much a matter of habit that classes instinctively stand 
when anyone enters the room, no matter if a recitation be in 
progress. Teachers seldom occupy their class-rooms during 
intermission. Pupils who desire special information must 
make known their wants before the class is dismissed, or else 
seek the teacher during office hours. The teacher is gener- 
ally the first one out of the room. 

The consequence of the rigid class system in vogue in all 
German secondary schools is that each pupil has a lesson 
every hour of the school-day. No time for 
study is allowed during the school hours, and it 
is an easy matter for teachers to assign so much work to be 
done at home that the strength of the pupils may be over- 
taxed. For more than fifty years this problem of the over- 
burdening of scholars has been uppermost in the minds of 



RULES, REGULATIONS AND CUSTOMS 159 

both educators and parents. An article entitled Zum 8chutze 
der Gesimdheit i7i den Schulen, published in 1836 by an emi- 
nent physician (Dr. Lorinser), called attention to tlie matter. 
So much discussion ensued that the Minister of Education 
was obliged in the following year to issue a rescript, which 
was supported by a special order of the king, materially re- 
ducing the amount of home study. 

Twenty years later the question again arose and a still 
further reduction was made. In the Prussian Parliament of 
1883-1884 the question came to open debate and 

Overwork. 

in consequence it was thoroughly considered 
from all sides. The government found itself an interested 
party since in some provinces eighty per cent, of secondary- 
school graduates were said to be unqualified for military service. 
Subsequent investigation proved that this percentage was 
placed too high ; nevertheless it was clear that the secondary 
schools were making serious inroads on the health of their 
charges. In Prussia the number of suicides of males between 
the ages of ten and twenty years increased from one hundred 
and sixty-five in 1809 to two hundred and sixty in 1881. Al- 
though it was shown that the rate of increase was not dis- 
proportionate to the increase in the school joopulation and 
to the total number of suicides, nevertheless so large a num- 
ber gave sufficient cause for apprehension. The question of 
insanity among students was also raised, but no satisfactory 
statistics could be had in the matter. Near-sightedness was 
found to be the one especial evil that could be attributed 
directly to the schools. Many investigations were under- 
taken definitely to learn the extent of the evil, which every- 
one knew existed in a serious form. 

It was found that near-sightedness increased not only from 
class to class but that its increase could be noted from the be- 
ginning of a school-year to its close. In the 
Frankfort Gijmnasium four per cent, of the Eye sight, 
scholars were found to be myopic in the lowest 
class and sixty-four per cent, in Prima. Of 1,000 newly en- 
listed soldiers examined in Munich only two per cent, of the 



160 GERMAN HIOHEB SCHOOLS 

country lads from the Volhsscliulen were found to be near- 
sighted. Common hibourers trained in the city schools 
showed from four to nine per cent. ; clerks, merchants, book- 
keepers, etc., forty-four per cent.; graduates of Realsclmlen, 
fifty-eight per cent. ; and graduates of Gymnasien, sixty-five 
per cent. Careful investigation did not substantiate all the 
charges that had been made against the secondary schools, but 
it was clearly demonstrated that of all institutions the classi- 
cal schools were the greatest sinners in this respect. It was 
found, too, that the number of scholars subject to headache, 
nose-bleed, and general anaemia was remarkably abnormal. 

The careful attention given to this matter by the Prussian 
Parliament again gave it national importance. Elaborate 

reports were made by the Medical Department 
^^°"stiKi ^^^^ ^^^ ^^'""^^'^ ^^^^ means of improving the conditions 

of the school work. Need of better lighted 
class-rooms, proper ventilation and sanitary precautions, were 
emphasized. The main pedagogical problem, however, was 
left for the Education Department to solve. Excessive home 
study was everywhere thought to be the main cause of the 
trouble. A ministerial rescript of 1883 prescribed the limits 
of home study for Sexta and Quinta at one hour per day, or 
six hours per week ; for Quarta and Untertcrtia, two hours 
per day, or twelve hours per week ; for Ohertertia and Unter- 
semmda, two and one-half hours per day, or fifteen hours per 
week ; for Ohersecunda and Prima, three hours per day, or 
eighteen hours per week. The new LeliT])lan of 1892 adopts 
this schedule and cautions the teachers not to overstep the 
bounds. Inasmuch as scholars must spend on an average 
from five to six hours a day in recitation, this gives a total 
day's work of six to nine hours according to age. The prep- 
aration of lessons, therefore, in the American fashion is ut- 
terly impossible. In fact there is no such thing as a recita- 
tion in our sense of the word in a German school. What we 
call recitation periods they speak of as Unterriclitsskindeji 
(Instruction hours). The teacher must lead ; the pupils 
follow. 



RULES, REGULATIONS AND CUSTOMS 161 

According to the latest Prussian Lclirplan, Lome work 
slionld consist principally in rearranging and rewriting notes 
taken in class, memorizing material indispens- 
able for class work, and reviewing and fixing ^T^askl^^ 
in the mind what lias already been learned in 
class. As a matter of fact, custom varies widely concerning 
the nature and amount of home study. Teachers who are 
not wholly in sympathy with modern notions continue to 
assign supplementary work to be done at home, and so long 
as parents do not complain there is little probability of its 
reaching the ears of the head-master. A special book is kept 
in every class-room in which the lessons assigned in each sub- 
ject are noted. This was hit upon as a method of giving 
precise information on what is actually required from the vari- 
ous classes. These books are at all times open to the inspec- 
tion of the directors and the teacher who is especially charged 
with the supervision of the class. The influence exerted by 
these regulations upon methods of teaching the various sub- 
jects will be treated of later in separate chapters. 

Every effort has been made of late years to control pupils 
by moral suasion. So far as possible the individuality of the 
teacher is given full play. There is no doubt _. . ,. 

» , , ,1 Discipline. 

that since 1870 a new type of school-master has 
come in, due in great measure to the military spirit that is 
in the air. Young men now are desirous of becoming officers, 
and the presence of teachers having the military training 
and the ability to command men gives great leverage for 
good discipline. 

Every inducement is offered the intending teacher to qual- 
ify himself in military tactics. The time that must elapse 
before a certificated teacher can receive an ap- _ 

■^ Reserve Oacers. 

pointment is ample for performing the extra 
military duty required of those who aspire to become reserve 
officers. Those who show marked proficiency in their first 
year of service are permitted to advance. They are given 
special advantages if they desire promotion, and are allowed 
to demonstrate their ability to command. After two years 
11 



162 GERMAN HIOHER SCHOOLS 

of intermittent practice, candidates may present themselves 
to the officers of some regiment for election. Everything is 
taken into account — education, training, appearance, char- 
acter, family, along with military ability. If chosen, the 
young man is at once admitted to the most select circle in 
German society and the one most jealous of its honour. 

To have officers of the Reserve or Laiidtcehr in a school is 
equivalent to saying that there are just so many able dis- 
ciplinarians, perfect gentlemen, men of high 

TheMihtary Yiiovd^ character and ambitions, in the teaching 
corps. They give tone to a school and set up 
a standard of discipline that bids fair, in a few years, to be- 
come the ideal type. The five or six thousand military offi- 
cers in the German schools are not there to no purpose ; they 
indicate a new tendency — one that will put the teacher's 
profession alongside of any in the land. The military circles 
and the clergy may no longer consider the school-master be- 
neath their notice, for the school-master of to-day may be the 
leader of a company in the war of to-morrow. This new 
spirit is the surest guarantee of a new system of discipline in 
the schools. It is indeed, military — sharp, quick, incisive — 
but the teacher has learned to obey and to be obeyed ; he 
knows how to control himself, and his control over his pupils 
is a matter of course. He is always clear and pointed in his 
teaching. There is nothing uncertain in anything he does. 
An extended acquaintance with German teachers and per- 
sonal observation of class-room methods lead me to the con- 
clusion that the proverbially stern discii^line and apparent 
lack of sympathy on the part of the teachers are really not 
burdensome from the stand-point of the students. In fact, 
these characteristics are distinctly the right thing in the eyes 
of the German school-boy, who, as I have already said, is 
thoroughly imbued with the military spirit and consequent- 
ly is not averse to having it manifested in the school-room. 

All this pertains to the younger generation of teachers. 
The older teachers are oftentimes careless and easy-going; 
sometimes cross and irritable. I have seen a master leave 



RULES, REGULATIONS AND CUSTOMS 163 

the rostrum two or three times during a single recitation 
to box the ears of ten-year-old boys with the teacher's book 
because of their inability to analyze rapidly 
enough problems in percentage. I have seen, 
too, the whole front of a large iron stove and all the window- 
shades in the class-room leave their places in a manner seem- 
ingly quite accidental during the process of a single recita- 
tion. I afterwards observed, however, that the shades had 
very suspicious-looking strings tied to them, and I more than 
suspect that the stove had been previously trained to perform 
its part. It is my opinion that school-boys in Germany have 
about the same motives to mischief as boys in other countries, 
and that the incompetent teacher is perhaps more inclined to 
be brutal in his treatment of a class than would be possible 
in an American school. 

The supervision of pupils and their discipline is not con- 
fined to conduct on the school premises, but has to do with 
their entire life outside of school ; nor are pa- 
rents permitted to interfere to any considerable '^orschooi.^" 
extent. A parent has no right to remove a 
child from school simply because the regulations do not suit 
him. It is presumed that the school is in charge of men who 
know better how to train children than parents do. The 
school-master is in possession of professional knowledge, and 
the whims of parents are not allowed to militate against him. 

Each pupil on entering a secondary school is placed in 
charge of a teacher, usually the one who has most to do with 
the instruction of the class (Ordinarms). The 
pupil is expected to consult his class-master in "^gJudents^^' 
all matters pertaining to his school work and 
to follow his advice at all times. Non-resident students must 
live in families or boarding-houses approved by the director 
of the school, and the director reserves the right to make 
such changes in the location of students and the conduct of 
boarding-houses as may seem desirable to him at any time. 
Non-residents may not change their lodgings without the 
approval of the director. They are not permitted to live at 



164 GERMAN lIIOHEFx SCHOOLS 

public-houses or to dine at hotel tables. The school is ex- 
pected to look after the conduct of pupils at all times out of 
school. Teachers have the right, and it is expected they 
will perform the duty, of making special investigations of 
the habits of students whom they suspect of being faithless 
to the regulations of the school. In extreme cases the police 
are required upon notification from the director to report on 
the habits of those under suspicion. 

Every pupil must be at school at least fifteen minutes be- 
fore the beginning of each session, and in his seat at the first 

stroke of the bell. In case of illness he must 
Ab^eifce°^ at ouce notify his Ordinarius either by mail or 

by special messenger of his absence, and when 
he returns to school he must present to his Ordinarius and 
to each of his teachers a written excuse from his parents. 
The Ordinarius may excuse the pupil for an occasional les- 
son, but permission for an absence of a day or more must be 
obtained from the director. 

Pupils are required to attend all religious exercises in the 
school, such as morning exercises (usually held in the larger 

schools only on Mondays), and the communion 
Attendance, service, wliicli is administered in all evangelical 

schools once or twice a year. Church attend- 
ance on Sundays is also obligatory for all, whatever may be 
the inclinations of parents. For pupils of about fourteen 
there is a special confirmation class which is taught by the 
village ]3astor or some clergyman aj^pointed for the purpose, 
and at Easter all members of this class are expected to be 
publicly confirmed. It is not absolutely obligatory, but the 
custom is so general that it may be said to be universal. The 
festivities connected with the event are sufficient inducement 
to win over those not otherwise persuaded. For the Volks- 
schiller it means that the school-days with their accompany- 
ing prohibitions and restraints are over. Good Friday is the 
last day of the" old regime ; the Saturday before Easter, the 
first of the new order. It is a novel experience for a foreigner 
to see these boys on a Saturday, dressed in their best and for 



RULES, REGULATIONS AND CUSTOMS 165 

the first time sporting gloves and cane, streaming out to sub- 
urban beer-gardens to spend the day in mild carousal. It 
means, too, for the secondary-school pupil greater freedom 
than he has hitherto enjoyed ; he may now smoke to his 
heart's content. The casual observer finds it difficult to see 
much that is religious in the German mode of confirmation, 
and I much doubt if the average German school-boy finds in 
it more than the removal of certain scholastic disabilities. 

The use of tobacco among pupils of the four lower classes 
is altogether prohibited ; upper-classmen may smoke, but 
not on the streets or in public places. Scholars conduct of 
must not loiter on the way to or from school, PupHs out of 
and must avoid excessive noise or disturbance School, 
on the streets. They are not allowed to visit public-houses, 
confectionery shops, beer-gardens, theatres or balls, except in 
company with their parents. Non-residents must secure per- 
mission from their tutors or school principals before going to 
public resorts. 

The opinion is growing in Germany that excessive beer 
drinking, especially as indulged in by university students, is 
a dangerous custom. Experts pronounce it the 
most prolific cause of insanity among young customf 
men, and a whole train of other diseases follows 
in its wake. And it is no wonder that health is endangered 
where the custom prevails of putting down ten or fifteen 
quarts of beer at a sitting — a not unusual practice of the uni- 
versity student — even though no intoxication results. But 
university students know no law but that of tradition. With 
the pupils of the secondary schools it is different ; they are 
under the control of masters. Students above the age of 
fifteen, however, may congregate at a respectable house with- 
out supervision, but must not remain later than nine o^clock 
in summer or eight o'clock in winter. On special occasions 
the whole evening may be spent in such merriment with the 
permission of the faculty and under the supervision of the 
director or one of the teachers. Wine, beer and coffee are 
the only drinks in which they are supposed to indulge. It is 



166 GERMAN HIOHER SCHOOLS 

the constant care of teachers and directors of the secondary- 
schools to see that their scholars do not fall into the company 
of bad women — a task that is by no means easy anywhere on 
the continent. Hence there must be no loitering on the 
streets, and attendance at legal trials and public meetings is 
forbidden. 

Students may not use the public libraries, or receive papers 

and magazines in their own names, or publish any school 

journal. No pains are spared that students 

and^Readhiff ^"^^^^ ^^^Y ^^^^^ whicli wiU be of advantage in 
their school work. For three-quarters of a cen- 
tury it has been the policy of German educators either to re- 
fuse students admission to the circulating libraries, or else to 
exercise strict control over what may be loaned them. Hid- 
den in this desire to control the outside reading of pupils there 
is a two-fold purpose: first, that their minds may not be 
poisoned by trashy literature ; and second, to prevent young 
people from imbibing political, social or religious heresies. 
In view of the demonstrations of the last few years indicating 
socialistic tendencies among university students, is it proble- 
matical as to which of these aims is looked upon as the more 
important? A university student is a free lance over whom 
it is difficult to exercise any control. But the pupils in the 
secondary schools are completely in the hands of the govern- 
ment throughout what is considered their plastic age, and 
the discipline of these schools is regulated quite as much with 
regard to the avoidance of all influences tending to undermine 
the patriotic and religious character of school instruction as 
to the suppression of positive evils. 

The rule forbidding student publications was directed 

originally against a paper started in 1875 which was intended 

to have a wide circulation among secondary- 

PiibiMons. school students, and in which they might air 

their grievances and express opinions on matters 

pertaining to school life. Since German teachers are state 

officials and the school a state institution, it is readily seen 

that political complications might easily arise. The paper 



RULES, REGULATIONS AND CUSTOMS 167 

was promptly suppressed, and though attempts have since 
been made to evade the ministerial edict, student journals are 
unknown except in the form of an occasional bulletin pub- 
lished for some school festival. There is great temptation on 
the part of students in the upper classes of the secondary 
schools to ape university customs in forming clubs and 
societies, but no such organization can be legally established 
without the approval of the school authorities. The univer- 
sity fraternities have given the government trouble enough, 
I take it, to prevent the hatching of a younger brood. 

The impression is abroad that German teachers are severe 
disciplinarians. That severity is tempered with mercy and 
judiciously administered will be apparent, I 
think, to all who note the following official ^'"''s^h'^or "^ 
gradations in punishments : — 

1. Warnings to the pupil (a) in private, (b) before class, 
(c) from the faculty. 

2. Assignment to a special place in the class-room or other- 
wise degrading the pupil in class work. 

3. Detention after school, which occurs under supervision 
and in order to make up deficiencies (but the pupil must not 
be deprived of his midday intermission). The director is in- 
formed in every instance. 

4. Incarceration, always with a definite amount of work to 
do Avhich must have a direct relation to the class work. This 
punishment can be assigned only by the faculty in conference 
and for a period not exceeding six hours. Most of the 
schools have cells for this purpose ; but nearly all of the new 
buildings are constructed without them, thus showing the 
decadence of the practice. 

5. Corporal punishment, which is not to be regarded as 
proper, but is allowable in three lower classes in cases where 
immediate action is necessary. In every instance the teacher 
must announce it the same day to the director. Fines are 
under no circumstances allowed in higher schools. 

If these punishments do not suffice to bring recalcitrant 
scholars into line, nothing else remains but removal from the 



168 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

school. In this case the various methods employed are : (1) 
Consilium abeundi which is to be communicated to the pupil 
in the presence of the assembled teachers, a 
^TxpiSror^ parent or guardian being at once notified ; (2) 
quiet suspension, in which the pupiFs father is 
advised to remove him at once for a definite time ; (3) public 
expulsion, whereupon the provincial school-board must be 
immediately informed. Dismissal from the school is in the 
hands of the faculty as a whole. In case of public expulsion 
all the higher schools of the province are officially notified 
that the pupil concerned must not be admitted to any school 
in good standing. In case of the suspension or expulsion of 
a non-resident the police department is also notified at once 
that the pupil is no longer under the supervision of the school. 
The certificate, which every pupil must be given on leaving 
school, will also state the fact that he has been removed for 
cause. This of itself is generally quite sufficient to prevent 
admission to another school. In case of suspension no notice 
of any kind is given — not even to classmates unless they have 
a knowledge of the oifence. 

The annual program of the Friedrichs- Gymnasium, Berlin, 
for 1895-1896 contains the following summary of rules for the 
guidance of parents : — 

" Applications for admission of new pupils at Michaelmas, 

1896, will be received on and after May 1st ; for admission at 

Easter, 1897, on and after November 1, 1896. 

'^SgS^t^ns'!^ The application fee is three marks, which will 
be deducted from the tuition of the first quar- 
ter if the pupil enters on time ; in case there is no vacancy 
in the class for which the pupil is found to be fitted, the fee 
will be returned ; but should the pupil not enter the class 
to which he is assigned, or fail to appear at the opening of 
the semester, the fee will be turned into the fund for poor 
scholars. 

'^ The pupil will bring with him on the day of his admission 
to the school, (1) the certificate of his application, (2) certifi- 
cate of birth, (3) baptismal certificate (if pupil is a Protes- 



RULES, REGULATIONS AND CUSTOMS 169 

tant), (4) certificate of vaccination (if pupil is over twelve 
years old, also the certificate of revaccination), (5) certificate 
of honourable dismissal from school previous- 
ly attended, and (6) the tuition fee for the first Admission, 
quarter. 

^' The tuition — 27.5 marks for the VolhsscJiule, 32.5 marks 
for the Gymnasium — is payable strictly in advance. Herr 
Nautsch, Collector, will be at the Gymnasuim on a day to 
be announced to receive the fees. 

^^ Applications for free schooling must be addressed to the 
city council {Magistrat) and handed unsealed to the director of 
the Gymnashtm before the first day of March 
or of September. If a free place is desired 
for a third or fourth son, it will be necessary to show, besides 
the need of assistance, that the other sons are students in 
good standing of Berlin secondary scliools. 

^' Scholars are not permitted to appear at unseasonable 
hours or to congregate on the streets. The class-rooms are 
opened fifteen minutes before the opening of the session. 

^' All scholars must be re vaccinated when twelve years old. 
If the operation is unsuccessful, it must be repeated each year 
until the certificate of the physician shows 

,1 • f? -1 ^^^^ f • x- Vaccination. 

three successive failures. The free services oi 

the scliool physician are recommended for this purpose. 

" Parents of our scholars are requested to give careful at- 
tention to the following official regulations relative to con- 
tagious diseases, and to observe them implicitly 
in case of need : XlT 

" The diseases which, because of their infec- 
tious character, are specially to be guarded against are : (1) 
cholera, dysentery, measles, scarlet fever, diphtheria, small- 
pox, typhus and intermittent fever ; (2) typhoid, contagious 
eye diseases, itch and whooping-cough (so long as it is spas- 
modic). 

^^ Scholars suffering with the above diseases are excluded 
from the school. Children in the same family with persons 
suffering from a disease included in the first list, (1), must 



170 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

have a physician^s certificate to the effect that they are in 

no danger of infection before they will be received in school. 

Scholars thus excluded from school will not be re- 

Exciusion from admitted under the normal period for each dis- 

School. ^ 

ease (scarlet fever and small-pox^, six weeks ; mea- 
sles, four weeks), nor without the statement from a physician 
that all danger is past and the proper disinfection completed. 

" Scholars are forbidden to leave school at holiday periods 
(especially before the summer vacation) before instruction 
closes, without permission of the director. 

" Parents should countersign the weekly reports sent them 
and take note of their sons^ work. 

^' Parents are requested not to send anonymous communi- 
cations to the director, but to consult with him personally on 
all matters pertaining to the welfare of the school and its 
pupils. Promotions are made by vote of the entire faculty, 
and the results are under no circumstances subject to change. 

" Visiting of beer-gardens, confectioners' shops or similar 

resorts is not permitted to scholars, except in company with 

responsible guardians. Smoking on the streets 

Public-Houses. K IV 1 • ^•4.- n i -i 

or m public places is unconditionally prohib- 
ited. Parents will be notified of infractions of these rules ; 
and in case of repetition the pupil will be immediately dis- 
missed from the school. 

''^ A written notice of the intention to withdraw from the 
school should be given to the director before the end of the 
semester ; otherwise the parent will be holden for the tuition 
of the following quarter. At the same time the director 
should be informed of the school the boy will next attend, or 
of his future occupation. 

"Vacations for 1896 are appointed as follows : 

Easter — Saturday, March 28th, to Tuesday, April 14th. 

Whitsunday — Friday, May 22d, to Thursday, 
May 28th. 

Summer — Friday, July 3d, to Tuesday, August 11th. 

Michaelmas — Saturday, October 3d, to Tuesday, October 
13th. 



RULES, REGULATIONS AND CUSTOMS 171 

Christmas — Saturday, December 19th, to Tuesday, Jan- 
uary 5th/^ 

Pupils nine years of age are admitted to the lowest class of 
the secondary school upon examination in (1) reading and 
writing the German and Eoman scripts ; (2) 
spelling ; (3) parts of speech and analysis of ^Traindng^ 
simple sentences ; (4) simple arithmetical oper- 
ations involving the four fundamental principles — addition, 
subtraction, multiplication and division of simple numbers ; 
(5) important Biblical stories. No restrictions are placed 
either by state or city upon the selection of the school which 
a boy will attend ; that is regulated entirely by the wishes of 
his parents and the accommodations of the school. But, on 
the other hand, neither royal nor municipal authorities are 
bound to provide facilities for the secondary education of all 
who may desire it. A certain number of secondary schools 
have been founded. They are provided with a certain number 
of teachers, and are intended for a certain number of pupils ; 
but, if these do not satisfy the requirements, there is no 
redress for those excluded. Applications for admission to 
some of the larger city schools must be made long in advance. 
The less fortunate — sometimes because less influential — must 
put up with what can be had. 

The schools of Germany, from the Volhssclmleii to the uni- 
versity, are open to any person of good character who can 
satisfy the conditions for entrance. But the 

TT ,, , 1 ,, -,1 j.'j. Class Distinctions. 

reader should not make the mistake of infer- 
ring that class distinctions are of little importance. Social 
rank is by no means a dead letter in the Fatherland. The 
young man or woman who enters into manual service is en- 
rolled as a servant on the books of the police and of the state 
insurance department. Henceforth there is no breaking 
with the past ; to rise above the present rank unaided is well- 
nigh a social impossibility. And in the schools class dis- 
tinctions, while not obtrusive, are nevertheless closely drawn. 
I have seen the Crown Prince of Weimar occupying a place 
on the benches of Pri7na in a public Gymnasium ; but on 



172 



GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 



the books of that scliool his name appeared as a prince of the 
royal blood. Some of his classmates were set down as peas- 
ant born. Until a student has attained a profession of his 
own, the Stand of his father follows him everywhere he goes. 
When he enters school his social rank is noted first of all ; in 
every certificate of merit it appears again ; it is demanded on 
admission to the university, and comes up again even in the 
Vita attached to his doctor's dissertation. And every time 
he changes his residence, or stops at a hotel ; whenever he 
pays his taxes, or gives his signature to any official document ; 
in short, when he is born, marries or dies, or does aught else 
between times, somebody^s Stand, if not his own, must be 
sponsor for him. 

I have not been able to get statistics of the social rank of 
the scholars in the secondary schools ; but the records of the 

Prussian universities will show, I think, the 
°s?u(ientB ° general make-up of the Gy^nnasien. During 

the five years preceding 1891, according to 
official reports, there were 12,G30 German students in the 
Prussian universities ; of these, 3,244 were sons of univer- 
sity graduates. The following table throws additional light 
on the professions chosen by gymnasial graduates, as shown 
by their university studies : 



University Departments. 


Number of 
Students. 


Number Whose 
Fathers were 
University 
Graduates. 


Per Cent, from 
Learned Class. 


Theology (Protestant) 


2,562 
581 
2,348 
3,471 
3,668 
1,622 
1,076 


709 
22 
873 
831 
809 
327 
230 


27 67 


Theology (Catholic) 


3 79 


Law 


37 18 


Medicine 


23 94 


Philosophy 


22 06 


(a) Philology and History 


20 16 


(6) Mathematics and Science 


21.38 



It is evident that the future officials and jurists of Prussia, 
more than other professions, are to be influenced by family 
tradition. On the other hand, the clergy and leaders of the 
catholic church will enjoy less of inherited strength, or more 



RULES, REGULATIONS AND CUSTOMS 



173 



of independent thought — as one prefers to consider it — than 
their associates. The philosophical department^ from which 
the secondary teachers are recruited, stands lower in point of 
social rank than any of the other leading faculties. 

In a country where church and state are so closely united 
as in Prussia, and where besides the state church there are one 
or two other important religions, the attitude 
of these bodies toward the schools is always a Preferfn^es. 
grave consideration. The Prussian constitu- 
tion guarantees freedom of religious belief and denies to no 
one the privileges of schooling. There are schools for the 
Protestants, schools for Catholics, schools for Jews and 
mixed schools. The secondary schools of Prussia in 1891- 
1892 had an attendance divided as follows among the various 
confessions : — ^ 





Scholars. 




Protestant. 


Catholic. 


Jew. 


Hah. BurgemcMilen .. 


6,901 
4,295 
3,497 
7,076 

19,935 
2,282 

52,800 


Per Cent. 
75.0 
67.2 
78.4 
76.2 
78.1 
49.9 
67.8 


Per Cent. 
1,527 16.6 
1,155 18.1 
629 14.1 
1.482 16.0 
3,146 12.3 
1,948 42.6 
17,918 23.0 


Pe 

751 

913 

299 

494 
2,358 

337 
7.015 


r Cent. 

8.2 




14.3 


OherreaUclmlen 


6.7 
5.3 


Rcalgymnasien 

Progymnasien 

Oymnasien 


9.2 
7.4 
9.0 






Totals 


96,786 


70.5 


27,805 20.3 


12,167 


8.9 







The population of Prussia, according to religion, is 19,232,- 
449 Protestants (67.2 per cent.), 10,252,818 Catholics (34.2 
per cent.) and 372,059 Jews (1.24 per cent.). From a com- 
parison of these percentages with the figures above given, 
it is clear that the Catholics are least interested in the 
higher education. The astonishing persistency of the Jews, 
however, in pushing their way into the high places is a 
source of much anxious thought in the kingdom. In com- 

1 Arranged from statistics given in the Centralhlatt. 



174 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

parison to their numbers, they send to the universities eleven 
times as many students as the Catholics send, and six times 
as many as the Protestants. This, unquestionably, is a seri- 
ous problem, since race hatred is growing constantly more 
menacing, and one that some day will cause a deal of trouble, 
if the present system is maintained. 

There is another way of getting at the character of the stu- 
dents who attend the secondary schools. It is well known 

that graduates of the Realscliulen, as a rule, 
OccupaUon ^uter business or some phase of commercial or 

technical life. With graduates of the Gymna- 
sien it is otherwise; of the 83,880 graduates of Prussian 
Oymnasien and Realschulen between 1868 and 1891, 62,236 
(74.2 per cent.) entered the learned professions. Gymnasial 
graduates numbered 71,226 ; and of these 58,373 (81.95 per 
cent.) entered the learned professions, 2,498 (3.51 per cent.) 
the technical professions and 10,355 (14.54 per cent.) other 
professions. Of the realgymnasial graduates 30 per cent, 
entered learned, 19 per cent, technical and 51 per cent, all 
the other professions. These figures exhibit conclusively the 
aim of these schools. Not all who enter, to be sure, ever see 
the end. More than four-fifths of those who begin fall by the 
wayside ; forty in every one hundred are satisfied with the 
privilege of one-year military service ; the remainder (39 per 
cent.) do not reach that standard. It remains to be said, 
therefore, that while the chief aim of the secondary schools 
is preparation for the university, they are really fitting the 
great majority — 85 per cent, and more — of their pupils for a 
practical life. And a doubtful preparation it is. 

General References : — Centralhlatt fur die gesammte Unterrichts- 
Verwaltung in Preussen ; Statistisches Jahrhuch der Jidheren Scliulen 
Deutschlands^ 1897-1898; Wiese-Kiibler, Gesetze und Verordnitngen ; 
Lehrpldne iind Lehraufgahen fi'ir die hoheren Schulen^ Berlin, 1893; 
Instruction filr die Directoren der hoheren Unterrichtsanstalten der 
Provinz Brandenburg (amtlich), Berlin, 1868 ; Instruction fur die 
Lehrer und Ordinarien an den hoheren Unterrichtsanstalten der Provinz 
Brandenhurg (amtlich), Berlin, 1868. 



CHAPTER IX 

EXAMINATIONS AND PRIVILEGES 

The aim of the higher schools in Germany is to give an 
Allgemeine Bildung, but it should be clearly understood that 
this liberal education is intended at the same 
time to be the first stage in a practical prepara- '^^^(!jJo^^^^'^ 
tion for life. Every higher school is at once a 
place of liberal culture and a fitting school for some specific 
vocation or profession. The union of these two ideals has 
gradually come in the course of the present century to be well 
understood and everywhere recognised as inevitable. This 
fact is responsible for much of the confusion and uncertainty 
to be met with in the educational system. 

Theoretically and historically, too, in a degree, the second- 
ary education of Germany is absolutely divorced from the prac- 
tical affairs of life. '' First make a man, and ^^^j^^g 
let the man look out for himself, ^^ is the motto Theoretical and 
that perliaps best expresses the idea of the old Practical, 
school-masters. '^ In making a man, make one that will be 
good for something,^' is the principle underlying the adminis- 
tration of the higher schools at the present time. School 
curricula and pedagogical theories, as a rule, emphasize the 
cultural side ; governmental regulation and the official man- 
agement of school affairs emphasize the practical side. 

The system of examinations and privileges in operation in 
all Germany bears striking testimony to the fact that the 
higher schools have a special mission in combining liberal 
culture and practical ability. 

In the first place, tlie very method of conducting examina- 

175 



176 GERMAN HIGHEIl SCHOOLS 

tions is designed to test the power to use knowledge rather 

than the extent of information. It is not so much what a 

pupil has learned that counts, as what he can do 

Purpose of |^|^ -^ ^^^ Wisse7i, SO much as Kbnnen. That 

Examinations. ' ^ 

incubus of written examinations, which weighs 
so heavily on British schools, and which is so popular in some 
parts of America, particularly in the State of New York 
and some Canadian provinces, would never be tolerated for a 
day in Germany, not even by the most conservative pedagogue 
of the old school. They would say that by such means you 
may gauge more or less accurately of a pupiFs knowledge and 
skill in displaying it, but it leaves untouched the very facts 
which an educator most wants to know — the desire for further 
study, power of will, love of home and country, religious 
feelings and the appreciation of the good, the true and the 
beautiful. Not what a man has, but what he is, is the true 
test of educational progress. '''As a man thinketh in his 
heart, so is he." 

Next, it will be observed that with the completion of suc- 
cessive grades in the higher schools certain privileges are 
granted which determine admission to all the 
higher vocations and professions. This makes 
not only each school, but each grade, a step in 
a general course of professional or business training. The suc- 
cessful Avorking of such a plan requires that young men on leav- 
ing school shall know something of practical worth and that 
they have the ability to use it in further preparation for their 
respective careers in life. The student wlio completes a gym- 
nasial course must have definite knowledge of those subjects 
which he will need in the university ; all students, no matter 
what their future occupations, need to be put in touch with 
the best that the national life and thought has to offer. The 
schools are confined to a definite curriculum, which is pre- 
scribed by the state ; its workings are supervised by the state ; 
and the state examines the results, and points out the possible 
lines of future advancement. But the way in which this is 
done is specially instructive. 



The Practical 
Side. 



EXAMINATIONS AND PRIVILEGES 177 

A pupil's promotion within the school depends upon (1) 
the quality of his daily work, (2) private and public exam- 
inations and (3) the judgment of his instruc- 
tors. The kind of school in which he is c^^^^«<;^««f 

Jrromotion. 

entered and the length of his course therein 
determine the possibilities of future study and occupation. 

A teacher is required to note the daily work, conduct, in- 
dustry and attention of his pupils, and from time to time to 
grade them accordingly. This should be done 
whenever the teacher has seen enough of his '^'^g ?^tem^^^ 
pupil to enable him to form sound judgment, 
say, daily in the lower classes, where the teacher has better 
opportunity to judge, and at least once a week in any case. 
No checking ^f errors as they occur, and no marking by per- 
centages, is allowed under any circumstances. The teacher 
who should attempt to note in class each mistake made by his 
pupils, as though his business were to find errors rather than 
give instruction, would be excluded from a German school as 
unfit for his office. The designation of grades which are offi- 
cially recommended for use in the higher schools is as follows : 
"Very Good,'' "Good,'' "Satisfactory," " Barely Satisfac- 
tory," " Unsatisfactory." The value of written work, as class 
exercises, notes and essays, is estimated in the same way and 
noted in the class records. At the end of each quarter, as a 
rule, and necessarily at Easter, Michaelmas, and Christmas, 
the reports of all teachers are gathered in and entered in the 
individual record-books of the pupils. The pupil's book gives 
the name of the pupil, the class to which he belongs, the 
number of pupils in the class, his industry and attention, his 
marks in the various studies, list of punishments received, 
notice of promotion and a space for remarks, followed by the 
signatures of the director and class-master (Ordinarius). 
After this report has been countersigned by the parent or 
guardian of the pupil, it is returned to the school, and placed 
among the school archives. It belongs to the school, and not 
to the pupil. The parent's signature is evidence that he has 
seen the official record of his son's work, and is fully acquainted 

12 



178 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

with the schoors estimate of his progress. On leaving school 
a pupil receives a certificate showing his standing at the time ; 
his record-book^ as I have said, remains in the school. And 
under no circumstances is it permissible to give a pupil his 
relative standing in class. Each person is entitled to a certifi- 
cate showing what he has done, but he may not receive any 
information concerning the work of others. 

At the close of the school-year, in faculty meeting, the 
standings of all pupils are considered, with a view to promo- 
tion. Inasmuch as a strict class system pre- 

Promotionin ^^.jg -^ German schools, individuals must be 

Course. ^ 

promoted with the class or remain where they 
are at least another semester. Occasionally a pupil will be 
allowed to make up some deficiencies during vacation. As a 
rule, however, pupils are promoted on the basis of a '' Satis- 
factory" standing in the more important subjects. Under 
this category are to be understood, of course, in the Gymna- 
sien, German, Latin and Greek. 

Examination in the higher schools are of two kinds : (1) 

private, (2) public. The private examinations include the 

entire round of individual and class tests wliich 

Examination '^^'® Considered in the reports to parents, and 
which have any bearing on promotion. Public 
examinations are for the sake of appearances — a concession to 
the curiosity and pride of parents. The aim is thereby to 
give parents, patrons and friends of the school some idea of 
school life and school work. These exhibitions are given at 
the end of semesters, the one at Easter being of chief impor- 
tance. The director's report of the work of the past year, the 
Sclmlprogram or JalireshericM, extends a formal invitation 
to the Schlussfeier. The public examinations are conducted 
by the regular teachers of the various classes, and continue 
about half an hour each. Drawings, note-books, and other 
handiwork of the class are on exhibition. Then follows a 
program of declamations, readings and music, in which the 
entire school takes part. 

These public tests are generally severely criticised as being 



EXAMINATIONS AND PRIVILEGES 179 

superfluous and an unnecessary strain upon pupils. But^ on 
the other hand, it is conceded that the school owes some- 
thing to the patrons, as well as to its pupils. 
The schools are public institutions, supported by Exam^naUons 
public funds, and the public has a right to know 
something of the inner workings of the system. It should be 
remembered, too, that these days are the only ones in the en- 
tire year when parents, or anyone else except state officials, 
can gain admission to Prussian schools, except by special per- 
mission of the Minister of Education. But such an argument 
does not appeal strongly to a Prussian school-master. Many 
schools — the city Gymnasien, of Berlin, for example — have 
abolished the public examinations, and others are contem- 
plating similar action. In the KaroUnenschule of Eisenach 
no public examinations have been held since 1890. In- 
stead, one entire week toward the end of the last quarter is 
set aside, during which parents are invited to hear instruction 
in all classes which their children attend. The plan has 
met with marked success in Eisenach ; but Eisenach is not 
in Prussia. 

Private examinations in course are conducted by the teachers 
at their discretion. Eor these each school is free to make its 
own regulations. The only ones of exceptional 
significance are the intermediate examination Examinations. 
{Abschlussprilfmig) at the end of the sixth 
school-year, and the leaving examination (Ahgangs-, Ahituri- 
ente7i-, Reife- or Maturitdtsprufung) at the end of the ninth 
year. 

The Maturitdtsprufung was introduced in Prussia in 1788, 
reaffirmed in 1812, and made obligatory for admission to the 
university and the learned professions in 1834. introduction of 
The plan has subsequently been adopted by all the Final 
the German states. The far-reaching conse- ^^a^^^^ation. 
quence of this examination made it necessary that it be con- 
ducted with extreme care, and according to an approved 
norm. It should be remembered that while the state exer- 
cises strict control over the higher schools, Lernfreilieit 



180 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

rules in the universities. A university student may study 
what he will, when he will, or need not study at all. If he 
registers for one lecture a week, pays his fees and conducts 
himself with ordinary propriety, no questions will be asked. 
He may spend one semester, or twenty, in the university ; it 
is nobody's business but his own. It not infrequently hap- 
pens that students, especially of the wealthier class, spend 
two or three years in idleness bordering on dissipation. The 
strict discipline of the Gyinnasium and the long and contin- 
uous course of study are frequently urged as an excuse for 
license in the university. The state, however, relies for sup- 
port upon its educated youth. Social influence and political 
intrigue would soon sap the vitality of the entire civil service, 
were not bulwarks erected by the state itself to withstand the 
tides of incompetency. These safeguards are, first of all, the 
leaving examination, and, in the second place, special exam- 
inations before royal commissions, for entrance to the various 
professions and administrative posts. 

The Maturitdtsprilfting is the first real test of individual 
ability. The 8taatsexamen comes, in the ordinary course of 
events, after about five years of professional study. The one 
discloses signs of promise in the youth ; the other tests the 
strength of manhood. 

It has been urged, inasmuch as the teachers in the higher 
schools are state officials — men well educated and profession- 
Point of Contact ^^^1 trained, and on the grounds, too, tliat the 

between State schools themsclvcs are state institutions, there- 

aud School, ^^^g ^i^g g^^^^ should accept the leaving exam- 
ination as evidence of fitness for admission to professional 
study. In answer, it has been pointed out that school-masters 
belong to a single profession, and that they are presumably 
unacquainted with the inherent needs of the other professions, 
much less familiar with the essential requirements of the 
practical administrative affairs of the state. Common sense, 
accordingly, demands that the state be represented in the ex- 
amination, to offset local influences. The representative of 
the state on these occasions does not usur]) the functions of 



EXAMINATIONS AND PRIVILEGES 181 

the school, but appears rather as a counsellor and friend. 
Very considerable power is given the school faculty, both as 
to who shall be admitted to examination and what shall be 
the character of the examination itself. In this way there is 
secured a happy blending of local government and state con- 
trol. 

The purpose of the leaving examination is to ascertain 
whether the candidate has accomplished the work of Prima. 
All Gymnasien which have been approved by 
the Minister of Education have the right of ^^' BoTrd!"^"^ 
holding this examination. The subjects for 
examination are religion, German, Latin, Greek, French, 
history and geography, mathematics and physics. English 
and Hebrew are optional subjects. The examination com- 
mittee consists of a commissioner appointed by the provincial 
school-board, who is chairman, the Director of the Gymna- 
sium, and the regular teachers of Oherprima. The repre- 
sentative of the provincial school-board is usually the Oher- 
schulrat, who is inspector of the school. In case he cannot 
act, the Director of the Gymnasium is usually commissioned 
to fill his place. Patrons of city and endowed schools also 
have the right to name one member of the examining com- 
mittee. Their representative is generally elected for a term 
of years, and has a vote on all matters. 

Absolute secrecy is enjoined on all members of the examin- 
ing board. Admission of a scholar is seldom permitted ear- 
lier than the second semester of Oherjprima. 
Application for examination is to be made in E^^inaUon 
writing three months before the end of the 
semester. The director then places before the committee 
these applications, together with a complete record of all 
candidates from the date of their admission to the school 
and such other information concerning their work, char- 
acter and future occupation as may seem to him desir- 
able. The committee is empowered to recommend for ad- 
mission to the examination all those whom they unanimously 
find to be '^ satisfactory ^"^ in scholarship and morals. This 



182 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

report is thereupon transmitted to the provincial school- 
board. It must show with regard to each candidate : his 
name, age and place of birth ; the religion, occupation and 
residence of his father ; his deportment, industry and stand- 
ing throughout his school course, and his choice of future 
occupation. Notice must be given at the same time of all 
cases rejected by the committee, and the reasons for such ac- 
tion. This done satisfactorily, the provincial school inspector 
designates those applicants who may come up for the final 
examination. 

The final examination is both written and oral. As 
required in the Gymnasium, tlie written examination in- 

subiectsof d^^^es (1) a German essay; (2) a translation 
Examination in from German into Latin ; (3) a translation from 

Gymnasium, ^j^^ Greek, and (4) from the French into Ger- 
man ; and (5) four problems in mathematics — one each from 
plane geometry, solid geometry, trigonometry and algebra. 
The oral examination includes Latin, Greek, religion, history 
and mathematics. 

In the written examination all candidates in the same sub- 
ject are examined at the same time. The questions set must 
be of a nature familiar in Prima and of no 
^Test^^^ greater difficulty. They must not, however, 
be so like those already studied that the test 
would lose the character of independent work. Passages 
for translation are to be taken from works similar to those 
read in class, but previously unseen by the candidates. The 
examination paper as a whole is made up after the following 
fashion : Each teacher of Prima gives the director a list of 
three questions in each subject. These, if approved by the 
director, are then sent to the provincial school inspector, who 
makes up the paper from the questions submitted. But if 
the questions proposed do not seem adapted to the purpose, 
if they are not up to the standard, or if there is any other 
reason why they should not be used, the inspector may alter 
them or replace them entirely. The director and the teach- 
ers are placed upon their honour not to disclose the questions 



EXAMINATIONS AND PRIVILEGES 183 

for the examination or take unfair means to prepare their 
classes for them. 

The examination is held in a room of the Gymnasium and 
under the supervision of a member of the examining commit- 
tee. The time allowed is five (mornins^) hours 

^ / • M 4^ How Conducted. 

for the German essay ; five (morning) hours lor 
mathematics ; three hours each for Greek and French ; two 
hours for Latin. No intermissions are allowed except in case 
of the mathematical examination, which may be cut in two. 
In translating from a foreign language, lexicons are allowed ; 
and for the mathematical work, a table of logarithms. All 
papers, whether complete or not, scrap-work included, must 
be handed in at the expiration of the period. Any attempt 
at deception during the examination is severely punished, 
even to the extent, if necessary, of exclusion from all future 
examinations. The extreme penalty, however, requires the 
approval of the Minister of Education. 

The papers in each subject are read by the teachers con- 
cerned, errors are noted, and the grades '^Very Good,'' 
'' Good," '' Satisfactory," " Barely Satisfac- „ . 

Marking Papers. 

tory" or ^'Unsatisfactory" assigned, according 
to the merits of the papers. All marks are then brought to- 
gether, and a decision is reached by the committee in con- 
ference on the admission of candidates to the oral examination. 
A detailed report is then made to the provincial school-board. 
The original papers and each set of answers are sent in, to- 
gether with a statement from the director of the reference 
books used, and that further than this no assistance of any 
kind has been given. The papers are then examined by the 
inspector, who approves the markings or makes such changes 
as seem to him necessary. 

Candidates who are not excused on account of very su- 
perior work in the written test are now required to take the 
oral examination in the presence of the provin- ^ ^ , „ . 

^ - _ -^ . The Oral Test. 

cial school inspector, who sets the day to suit 

his own convenience, and the assembled teachers of the 

school. All the records of the candidates during Prima, 



184 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

their note-books, essays and other written work, are on ex- 
hibition, and may be made the basis of examination. Ten 
candidates at a time is the usual number admitted to exam- 
ination. Classes above ten are divided and the groups ex- 
amined on different days. The inspector, who is chairman of 
the committee, arranges the order of subjects and designates 
the time for each. No helps of any kind are allowed. The 
teacher of any subject is the chief examiner in that subject ; 
after him, anyone may continue the test. The inspector .may 
interject questions at any time, or take the lead himself in 
case of necessity. In Latin and Greek, candidates are ex- 
pected to read at sight ordinary prose of a kind similar to 
the readings in Prima ; the verse which is called for is gen- 
erally that studied during the last semester. Criticism and 
exegesis are always in order. The examination in history is 
confined to the later periods, especially the development of 
Prussia. Physics is not prescribed for examination, but it is 
recommended that it be treated incidentally in connection 
with mathematics. 

The examination in each subject is graded by the chief ex- 
aminer (i.e., the regular teacher of the subject), with the ap- 
proval of the other members of the committee, 
standing. '^^^^ Committee then goes into executive session, 
and considers in detail all matters pertaining 
to the examination, both written and oral, of each candi- 
date. Three factors enter into the final decision : the can- 
didate's record in the school ; the results of his written ex- 
amination ; and his standing in the oral test. The passing 
mark in all three is ^' Satisfactory." High standing in some 
subjects, however, may atone for slight deficiencies in others ; 
but no candidate will be passed who is deficient either in 
German or in both the classical languages. The grade 
^^ Unsatisfactory ^' in one of the classics may be offset by a 
standing of at least ^^Good^' in the other ancient language, 
in German or mathematics. In the same Avay, ^^ Unsatisfac- 
tory" in mathematics requires at least '^'^Good" in Greek, 
or Latin or German. All members of the committee have a 



EXAMINATIONS AND PRIVILEGES 185 

right to vote, the youngest member voting first ; and in case 
of a tie the provincial inspector casts the deciding ballot. 
The formal report is then signed by all members of the com- 
mittee, and the inspector announces the results to the wait- 
ing candidates. 

Successful candidates receive a diploma (Reifezeug^iis) 
signed by the provincial inspector of schools and other mem- 
bers of the examinins^ committee. This di- . , 

*=" The Diploma. 

ploma certifies to the character, conduct, at- 
tention and industry of the holder ; to his standing in each 
subject of the examination, and to the quality of his work in 
Oherprima. It also designates his rank, all things consid- 
ered, as " Very Good," " Good " or " Satisfactory.'^ In case 
of failure the candidate may have two more trials, whether 
he attends school in the meantime or not. 

Persons who have not taken a regular gymnasial course, 
but who wish to enter the university and enjoy the privileges 
attached to the leaving examination, may apply to the pro- 
vincial school-board for assignment to the Maturitdtspriifung 
of some Gymnasium. In the same way, graduates of a Real- 
gymnasium or an Oherrealscliule may be admitted to the 
gymnasial examination in subjects which they have not al- 
ready passed. 

The general regulations for the conduct of leaving exam- 
inations are the same in the Realgymnasium and Oherreal- 
scliule as in the Gymnasium. In each case the work of the 
last year of the course indicates the character and scope of 
the examination. 

The Realgymnasium and the Oherrealscliule require in the 
written examination (1) a German essay ; (2) a French or 
English essay; (3) a translation from German Examination in 
into French or English ; (4) four problems in other Higher 
mathematics — one each from algebra, plane Schools, 
geometry, solid geometry, trigonometry or analytical geom- 
etry ; (5) one problem in physics or chemistry ; and, in the 
Realgymnasium, (6) a translation from Latin into German. 
The oral examination is confined to religion, French, Eng- 



186 GERMAN HIGHEB SCHOOLS 

lish, history, mathematics and either chemistry or physics, 
according to which is called for in the written test. 

The candidate is not passed if his rank in German, or in 
both modern languages, is " Unsatisfactory/" If ^' Unsat- 
isfactory " in one modern language, he must be at least 
" Good '' in the other, or in German or in mathematics. A 
realgymnasiast ranking ^^Unsatisfactory"' in mathematics 
must be at least '' Good " in the modern languages or in 
German ; a candidate from the OherreaUclmle who is " Un- 
satisfactory"" in mathematics must be at least *^Good"" in 
physics or chemistry. 

The Progyimiasium includes in its written examination 
(1) a German essay ; (2) a translation from the German 
Final Examination "1*0 ^atin, (3) into Greek and (4) into French ; 

iu Six- Year (5) two problems from geometry and algebra. 
Schools. ^^^2 ^^g 1^ mensuration of solids. The oral 
examination comprises religion, Latin and Greek, history, 
geography and mathematics, including physics. 

In the Realprogijmnmien the written examination includes 
(1) the German essay ; (2) a translation from the German 
into (3) Latin, (4) French and (5) English; (6) two prob- 
lems from algebra and geometry, and one from the elemen- 
tary mensuration of solids. The oral examination includes 
religion, French and English, history and geography, math- 
ematics and science. In the ReaUcliulen and higher burgher 
schools the written examination comprises (1) a German 
essay ; a translation from German (2) into French and (3) 
into English ; (4) two problems in algebra and geometry, 
and one from the elementary mensuration of solids. The 
oral examination is the same as in the Progymnasien. 

No one can be graduated from any secondary school who is 
deficient in the mother-tongue. This is a result of the regu- 
lations and Lelirplan of 1892, in which special 

Requfrements. ^^^^^^ ^^ placed upoii the language, literature 
and history of Germany. Some of the standard 
subjects of the old examinations are no longer found ; for ex- 
ample, the Latin essay and the Greek scripkim. While not 



EXAMINATIONS AND PRIVILEGES 187 

all such changes are agreeable to teachers trained under the 
old dispensation, the younger men as a rule cordially support 
the new order. There can be little doubt that the writing 
and speaking of Latin as formerly taught in the schools was 
more an end in itself than a means to an end. The aim of 
modern methods is to give a liberal education that shall be as 
practical and useful as possible. And in the supreme test, as 
has been shown, no attempt is made unduly to test a candi- 
date's memory. The only person who knows what a scholar 
is worth and what he can do, his teacher, is his chief ex- 
aminer. 

The Alsclilussprilfung, which comes at the end of the first 
six school-years in the nine-year schools, and which corre- 
sponds to the leaving examination of the Pro- 
gymnasien, the Real2)rogynmasien and the Real- '^Examhiation^^ 
sclmlen, is of recent introduction. From the 
official statistics of the school-year of 1889-1890 it was found 
that, out of a total attendance of 135,357 in the secondary 
schools of Prussia, 20,038 left at the end of the year. Of these, 
4,105 completed the course, 8,051 left at the end of six years, 
and 7,882 dropped out of the lower classes. It is seen, there- 
fore, that of those leaving school forty per cent, were satisfied 
with a six years' course, while only twenty per cent, secured 
the Reifezeugnis. The important fact to be noted is that 
only 368 (from higher burgher schools) of those who left 
school at the end of the six years went out with 
a theoretically complete education. All others Jeaso^s for its 

"^ ^ Establishment. 

were m schools whose curricula required three 
years longer in attendance. This was one of the problems 
which engaged the attention of the Berlin School Conference 
of 1890. Up to that time all of the secondary schools, with 
the exception of the higher burgher schools, were organized 
for the express benefit of those who completed the nine years' 
course. It was recognized that nothing could be done for the 
thirty-nine per cent, who left school during the first five 
years, but for the forty per cent, who remained only long 
enough to secure the certificate for one year's military service 



188 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

it was felt that some reform was necessary. The curricula of 
1892, therefore, were so arranged that those leaving at the 
end of Untersecimda would have a well-rounded training, at 
least in religion, German, history and geography, and math- 
ematics. Opponents of the new order object to this measure 
on the grounds that it amounts practically to converting the 
nine-year institutions into six-year schools, with a three years' 
continuation course. That there is some ground for this 
view of the matter is evident from the especially marked ten- 
dency in the Leliriilan to go over in the last three years much 
the same ground as that already covered, but in a more 
thorough and intensive way. This theory of working in con- 
centric circles has been attacked as contrary to the best ped- 
agogical thought of the times. Nevertheless, the stern fact 
remains, and it is one with which there is no compromising, 
that more than twice as many students leave school from 
Secunda as finish the course. The practical necessity of 
assuring so large a percentage of high-school pupils a toler- 
ably complete education has rendered imperative an awkward 
division in the curriculum at the end of the middle grades of 
the nine-year schools. 

The AbsMussprilfung has been introduced, therefore, as a 
leaving examination at the end of the Untersecunda for all 
those who do not intend to continue their 
^^'^r^r''^' studies. It is of the same rank as the Reife- 
priifung in six-year schools, and is conducted by 
an examination committee, under the direction of a school in- 
spector, in precisely the same way as the other leaving exam- 
inations. But as yet few of the German states have adjusted 
their courses to it ; Prussia is content to await their pleasure. 
In the meantime she is incurring the enmity of some well- 
meaning educationists, who would hold steadfastly to the 
highest pedagogical ideas regardless of the needs of a majority 
of higher-school pupils. 

There could scarcely be a better system of examinations for 
secondary schools than that which has been worked out in 
Germany. If one does not find himself in full sympathy with 



EXAMINATIONS AND PRIVILEGES 189 

it on its theoretical side, he is forced to acknowledge its su- 
perior excellence in its practical workings, especially when it 
is contrasted with the prevailing systems in Eng- 
land and America. It is not a lash held over ^ejitsofthe 

System. 

scholars to make them work the harder, nor 
does it convert a youth into a mere machine for grinding out 
facts on demand. It allows full play to the individuality of 
pupil and teacher, and gives botli every opportunity for per- 
forming the best possible service. It leaves the teacher free 
to devote his best energies to the mental-spiritual develop- 
ment of his charge, without the suspicion that someone may 
come in, wholly ignorant of the character of his pupils and of 
his course of instruction, to test them on what might be the 
veriest non-essentials. It gives free scope for the best teach- 
ers to work out their problems in their own way ; it sets a 
standard below which the poor teacher dare not fall ; in short, 
it accomplishes all that any system of examinations could be 
expected to do, while it is free, at least in its practical work- 
ings, from the evils incident to the popular methods of this 
country. 

It has been repeatedly pointed out in this essay that the 
higher schools of Germany serve purposes other than merely 
giving a liberal education. It is inevitable that 
a state system of education should be controlled prMieges^ 
in the interests of the state, but under a bu- 
reaucratic government there is danger of using the schools in 
the interests of the class that happens to be in power. The 
tendency in Germany to regulate everything that can be reg- 
ulated applies to the control of public education as to every- 
thing else. Little chance is allowed anywhere to individual 
initiative ; small credence is given to the ability of the masses 
to act aright. The German theory is that it is better to avoid 
mistakes than to make them even for the sake of gaining ex- 
perience. 

It is with reluctance that I turn to the system of privileges 
so intimately associated with the examination system. It is 
at this point that the grip of the government is most seriously 



190 GERMAN IIIOIIER SCHOOLS 

felt. The state is not content to give to youth a liberal 
education which he can use in the service of the state, but it 
must compel him to conform to a prescribed form if he would 
succeed. Thus it happens that each higher school, almost 
each year in school, has its cash value. It is a load which 
the schools can ill afford to carry. It mars what otherwise 
might be the most nearly perfect educational system in the 
world. It distorts educational progress, and bids fair ulti- 
mately to give an advantage to the enemies of the Father- 
land, the value of which they seem thoroughly to appreciate. 

There are three groups of privileges which may be dis- 
tinguished : First, the right of one-year volunteer service 
in the army ; second, the admission to the uni- 

Three Main ygrsitv and the learned professions ; third, 
preparation for various posts in the civil and 
military service. The first two are of special interest in this 
connection. 

1. The privilege of one-year volunteer service in the army 
{Einjdhrig-freiwilliger Dienst) is granted upon the success- 
ful completion of a six years' course of study 
L Military -^^ ^^^^ j-gcognized higher school in any German 
state, and to those persons not being pupils 
in a higher school who are fitted privately or by study in a 
school not officially recognised and succeed in passing a spe- 
cial examination similar to the AbscJtlussprufung. 

In the last century, when the army was recruited by con- 
scription in the various cantons, university students were 
free from military service. So many accord- 

Yea™s*ervice. i^^g^J entered the university for no other pur- 
pose than to avoid army service that a special 
examination was instituted in 1793 to determine who might 
take up university work with a profit. At first the examina- 
tion was restricted to gymnasial students fourteen years of 
age. With the introduction of universal military service, in 
1814, an exception was made in the case of young men of the 
upper classes who desired to devote themselves to professional 
study whereby they were given the privilege of but one year 



EXAMINATIONS AND PRIVILEGES 191 

of army service. Only those who gave promise of special 
ability were awarded the privilege. Students in the higher 
classes of the Gymnasieii, even down to Tertia, who satisfied 
these requirements might receive the recognition. In 1822 
the completion of Tertia was required, and since that time 
the standard has been gradually raised until, in 
1868, the minimum requirement was set at the condftions. 
end of the Untersectmda, where it has since re- 
mained. Other changes have also been made. The privilege 
was granted first only to those who gave special promise of 
professional success. For thirty years, however, it has been 
held up as a prize for all who could pass a definite examina- 
tion, notwithstanding that some might not intend to enter 
upon professional study at all, or even remain longer in school. 
As a matter of fact this latter class now includes more than 
one-half of all those who secure the privilege. 

With the foundation of the North German Confederation 
and, later, of the Empire, the system introduced by Prussia 
was adopted by the other states. In order to The imperial 
secure a greater uniformity in methods and an school 
approved standard, an Imperial School Com- 
mission (Eeichs-Schnlcommissmi) was appointed in 1875, 
whose chief function is to advise the imperial chancellor as to 
what schools may with propriety be granted the privilege of 
awarding the certificate which frees its holder from one year 
of military service. This commission consists of six mem- 
bers : Four represent Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony, and Wlirtem- 
berg ; a fifth member is chosen biennially from Baden, Hesse, 
Alsace-Lorraine and Mecklenberg-Schwerin in turn ; the 
sixth member represents the other German states, likewise 
in terms of two years. This is the only attempt made to 
unite the different states of the empire in any matter per- 
taining to school affairs. The members of the commission 
are all teachers, or officers in the Education Departments of 
the different states. 

2. Admission to any faculty of the university, and ulti- 
mately to the learned professions, is unconditionally permitted 



192 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

only to those who hold a Reifezeiignis from a Gymnasium, 
Graduates of a complete course in the Realgymnasium may- 
pursue such courses in the university as will 
^' ^tu?^^'*^^ ^^ them to become teachers of mathematics, 
natural sciences and modern languages, but 
they may not study theology, law or medicine. A Reifezeng- 
nis from an Oberrealschule grants the privilege of university 
study only in mathematics and natural sciences. 

The leaving examination which was introduced in Prussian 
schools in 1788 carried with it the privilege of admission 
to the university, but not until 1834 was the 
Conditions ^^^^ ^^ mucli practical importance. In the lat- 
ter year it was made an essential prerequisite 
to all professional advancement. During the following gen- 
eration the Gymnasium had a monopoly of all university pre- 
paratory work. In 1870, by the recognition of the Real- 
gymnasium, Greek was made optional for entrance upon the 
courses in mathematics and modern languages. Finally, in 
1892, the privileges mentioned in the preceding paragraph 
were granted to the higher schools. It has been a long 
struggle, the end of which is not yet in sight. 

3. Graduates of Gymnasien, Realgymnaslen and Oherreal- 
schulen alike have the privilege of continuing their studies in 
higher technical schools in architecture ; in 
Examfnatfons ^^^^^^ mcchauical, clcctrical and mining engi- 
neering ; in art, in agriculture — in short, in all 
lines which lead up to the state examinations for admission 
to all posts in the civil and military service not included in 
the learned professions. 

The privileges attached to certificates of completion of 
courses less than nine years in length will be found in full in 
the appendix to this volume. An examination 
'^system^. ^ ^^ ^^^^ table will show that the higher schools 
are the only gateways to positions of honour 
and trust in the state. Industrial and commercial occupa- 
tions alone are freed from official interference ; but with state 
control of the railways, telegraph and postal systems, of bank- 



EXAiMIAATIOMS AND PRIVILEOES 193 

ing and certain industrial interests, even freedom in business 
is not altogether assured. Bureaucracy is omnipresent, and 
almost omnipotent ; the higher schools, unfortunately, are 
a chief means of j)er|)etuating its power. 

General Keferences : — Wiese, Das hohere Scliulwesen in Freussen ; 
Wiese-Kiibler, Gesetze mid Verordnungen ; Centralhlatt fixr die gesammte 
Unterrichts- Verwaltung in Freussen ; Encyclopedias of Scbmid and Rein; 
Phillip, Das hohere Scliulwesen im Konigreiche Sachsen^ Dresden, 1889. 
13 



CHAPTER X 

STUDENT LIFE IN THE HIGHER SCHOOLS 

The school life of the average German boy, estimated in 
English or American terms, is rather tame and uninteresting. 

There is little of the dash and vigour, little of 
seriou8''BJr8fness. ^^^^ vivacity and buoyancy of spirits, which we 

consider essential to the normal development 
of a healthy boy. Carelessness and indifference, where they 
exist, are evidences of laziness rather than of perverseness. 
The German school-boy has no time for sports ; family pride 
and personal ambition keep him incessantly at his tasks. 
The good time that he looks forward to, the time of his free- 
dom from bondage, comes with his admission to the univer- 
sity. " Then," he resolves, ^' I will do as I please." 

This getting of an education is a serious matter to the 
German youth, and he looks every inch the martyr that he 

really is. He has no interest in outdoor games, 
^° p\T ^^^ ^^^ especial fondness for indoor gymnastics ; 

he is practically denied what every American 
boy considers an inalienable birthright, the privilege of 
joining with his fellows in societies for moral, intellectual 
and social purposes ; an ardent admirer of all things military, 
yet military drill forms no part of his physical training until 
his school-days are over. The inevitable consequences are 
clearly to be remarked in the middle and upper grades — great 
unevenness in form and stature, sallow complexions and gen- 
eral lack of animal spirits. Skating seems to be the one 
form of popular recreation. The recent revival of gymnas- 
tics may have done much, it may yet do more, for the phys- 

194 



STUDENT LIFE IN THE HIGHER SCHOOLS 195 

ical well-being of the German schools ; but I have serious 
doubts of the complete success of the system so long as it 
provides for no spontaneous outdoor sports. 

The es^yrit de corps of the public day-schools is, in my 
opinion, weak and uncertain. Too many pupils regard them- 
selves deprived of harmless liberties, many 
others have no thought except to get through ^pjJt^''"^ 
and away ; there is far too little personal con- 
tact of teacher with pupil, too little love and devotion be- 
tween pupil and teacher. A strong sentiment of loyalty to 
the school and its traditions cannot thrive in such atmos- 
phere. It would be erroneous, however, to conclude that 
because school loyalty is not strong, therefore disloyalty and 
anarchy prevail. To all appearances German school life is 
neither the one nor the other. It has always impressed me 
as being almost entirely devoid of sentiment, good or bad. 
The average boy seems to consider schooling a necessary evil 
^something to be endured patiently, resolutely, thankfully, 
if only thereby he escape social damnation. 

So far as I can judge, the little effervescence to be found in 
the day-schools is allowed to work off in harmless public 
entertainments, to which the parents have a 

._., . icn •, Public Exercises. 

special invitation. At the close of the year it 
is customary for the director to issue the program of the 
yearns work, including list of graduates, important announce- 
ments and an invitation to all interested to attend the clos- 
ing exercises. These consist (1) of public examinations ; 
(2) of rhetorical, musical or gymnastic exhibitions, and (3) 
of public lectures. 

The examinations are purely formal in character, as has 
been already stated, and are of comparatively little interest 
except to parents. The Berlin city schools have done away 
with them altogether ; many others would like to, but the 
time does not seem to have come for severing another link 
that binds the present to the past. 

The rhetorical and gymnastic entertainments are always 
liberally interlarded with excellent musical selections. The 



196 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

very lack of an inspiring school life sends German boys to 
their homes for amusement and recreation. And the cult- 
ured home is certain to be musical. It is an 
K^^dinJ-^s*^ open question whether the love of music is 
cause or effect of the prevailing disregard of out- 
door sports ; at any rate, the two interests do not seem to 
thrive well together. There is devotion to music in the home, 
and there is a love for it in the school. The result is plenty 
of good musicians, few good athletes. Elocution is little 
practised ; the ability to write clearly and to read well is 
everywhere considered an essential element in education. 
Public exercises, therefore, are most popular in which music 
and essay reading predominate. The patriotic theme is the 
prevailing one for public occasions ; panegyrics on William 
I., Bismarck and von Moltke are good stock in trade. Hero- 
worship is a settled policy of the Fatherland ; from it patriot- 
ism is born. 

The birthdays of the reigning sovereign and the anniver- 
sary of the victory at Sedan are occasions of special rejoicing, 
of speech-making and of freedom from lessons. 
ceiebratk)ns ^^ these days all public buildings are deco- 
rated ; bunting, flags and streamers are flung 
out from every house, and at night illuminations are visible 
on every hand. In school all work is suspended. The boys 
gather early to hear an oration from some one of the masters 
on the significance of the day ; after this short exercise there 
is freedom for all. 

The German boarding-schools, some of them at least, oc- 
cupy an honourable place in the school system. The gymna- 
sial schools are as proud of their records as Eton, or Harrow 
or Rugby. The cloistral schools of St. Afra in Meissen, 
Schulpforta and Rossleben are the most famous of the gym- 
nasial boarding-schools. The two former were 
Schoois!^^' fo^^dsd in 1543, and Eossleben is only eleven 
years younger. St. Afra has an income of 
125,000 marks, of which more than one-half is from its orig- 
inal endowment. Besides running expenses, this provides 



STUDENT LIFE IN THE HIGHER SCHOOLS 197 

free places for 105 scholars, and 25 more receive some aid. 
The Saxon Minister of Edncation grants 65 of these scholar- 
ships, 11 of which must be given to sons of clergymen ; 20 
places are at the disposal of certain noble families, and the 
remaining 45 belong to some 26 cities of Saxony. Only boys 
of thirteen, or those prepared to enter Unterter- 
tia, are admitted. That the St. Afra boys are 
kept busy is evident from the following -order of the day : 5 
A.M., rising bell; 5.20, prayers and first breakfast; 5.40, 
study ; 6.30, free ; 7, lessons ; 9, second breakfast ; 9.15, 
lessons ; 11, free; 12, reading; 12.45 p.m., dinner, afterward 
free ; 2, lessons ; 4, free ; 5, study ; 7, supper ; 8.15, busy- 
work ; 9, prayers ; 9.15, younger pupils retire ; 10, lights out. 
Rossleben, with an income of 129,000 marks, is distinctly 
a school for noblemen. It has about eighty pupils in seven 
ffvmnasial classes ; boys are taken first in 

^•^ . , . T T <• • Rossleben. 

Quarta. The thirty free places provided tor m 
the endowment are awarded by four members of theWitzleben 
family, direct descendants of the founder of the school. The 
discipline at Rossleben is truly Prussian. The extreme pen- 
alty, removal from the school, is attached to the violation of 
many rules. Typical prohibitions are the following : gam- 
bling in any form, having playing-cards in oner's possession, all 
aping of university societies and customs, having or drinking 
wine, beer or liquors on school premises. No sweetmeats 
may be brought to the school ; visits to the confectioners', as 
to beer-gardens, are regulated by the teachers in conference. 
The Rehtor inspects all correspondence in which the boys are 
a party. 

Schulpforta — income, 273,000 marks — is perhaps the finest 
type of upper-class school. Its situation, midway between 
Kosen and Naumburg, on the banks of the 
Saale, is especially charming. The gray stone 
walls of the old cloister, the ivy-covered towers, the soft col- 
ourings of the tiled roofs and the Gothic spires of the newer 
buildings combine harmoniously to produce an effect quite in 
keeping with the beauty of the natural surroundings. The 



198 GERMAN HIOHER SCHOOLS 

grounds, several acres in extent, are walled in as they were, I 
suppose, three hundred and fifty years ago. At the entrance 
stands an imposing building belonging to the administration 
department ; for one must know that Schulpforta is a con- 
siderable village of itself — at least, it provides employment to 
the usual number of government officials. Near by are the 
barns connected with the agricultural domains of the institu- 
tion. Farther down the avenue and directly facing it stands 
the main group of buildings, consisting of the cloister, which 
is used as a school-house and boys^ home combined, library, 
chapel and gymnasium. The houses of the Rehtor and the 
married masters, the hospital and home of the school physi- 
cian, stand by themselves apart. The class and study-rooms 
are dull and unattractive ; the chapel, aula and library have 
recently been modernized, but without violence to the spirit 
of their mediaeval architecture. In the rear of the buildings 
is a spacious play-ground — such as would delight the hearts of 
the most fastidious foot-ball team — while several pieces of 
outdoor athletic apparatus and a bowling-alley for each class 
do not lessen its attractiveness for the German school-boy. Of 
the one hundred and eighty places in the school, one hundred 
and forty are free. The Prussian Government awards half of 
these, and the remainder are distributed among certain Prus- 
sian cities and the church. Even the casual visitor to 
Schulpforta must be impressed with the beauty of the place 
and the wealth of its historic traditions. Who can tell what 
events occurred here, what tragedies were enacted, before the 
quiet convent of Luther's time was transformed, under the 
influence of his teaching, into the protestant school that Mau- 
rice of Saxony made it ! A portrait of the founder hangs on 
the chapel wall ; and a kindly face it shows, too, but his full 
coat of burnished armour bespeaks methods not wholly peace- 
ful in the accomplishment of his purposes. 

The modern boarding-school is of a different type. In so 
far as the modern spirit is commercial are these schools 
adapted to that end ; but there are many learned men in Ger- 
many who deprecate the hard and fast lines of the public 



STUDENT LIFE IN THE HIGHER SCHOOLS 199 

schools, and accordingly seek out for their sons a more elastic 
curriculum. Such a school must necessarily be private, 
though privileared to prepare for the volunteer 

• mi cr^ ^ f TT • 7 A ^ i± The Stoy School. 

army service. The Stoy sclie Erzielmngs-Anstalt 
in Jena, which I choose to describe at length, is one of the 
best of its kind. For the student of education it has an 
especial interest in that it embodies to the very detail those 
ideas which made Professor K. V. Stoy one of the most fa- 
mous educators of the last generation. The world already 
knows of his early struggles to found a truly educational in- 
stitution on the Herbartian principles, which should at the 
same time be a training-school for his university students in 
pedagogy. From the small beginning in 1843 there developed 
eventually the original Stoy School. But when Stoy was 
called to Heidelberg, in 1866, the school in Jena passed into 
strangers^ hands. Fourteen years later the old banner was 
again raised over a new institution bearing the name of the 
old master, but with a son of the former one. Dr. H. Stoy, 
as the new Direktor. The pupils of the old school trans- 
ferred their allegiance to the new, and the friends of the 
father became supporters of the son. Its success was assured 
from the start. 

The school property, situated on the rising ground in the 
northern part of the town, is some two or three acres in ex- 
tent. A large piece of land on the heights a 
mile below Jena is also in the possession of the 
school, and there the head-master has a snmmer cottage 
where the boys find entertainment on many of their country 
excursions. The school buildings, four in number, are in 
the Swiss style of architecture. The school-house, a three- 
story building completed in 1892, is admirably arranged for 
class purposes, well lighted and ventilated and heated by 
steam. In addition to class-rooms, it provides a large room 
for drawing, another for the very large collection in natural 
history, besides chemical and physical laboratories ; another 
building serves for gymnasium and workshops ; a third is the 
hospital, which is fitted up for ten patients, The boarding- 



200 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

ball, an imposing tliree-story structure, is the home of the 
Direlctor, the unmarried masters and seventy boys. On the 
first floor are the head-master's rooms — eight in number — the 
kitchen, dining-room and lower class study-rooms. The en- 
tire second floor, save for teachers' conference-room, seniors' 
study-hall and a servants' work-room, is divided into four 
dormitories, each with fifteen to twenty beds. The third 
floor is arranged for teachers' rooms and rooms for music, 
school library and housekeeper's appointments. 

The army life, which the average German boy looks for- 
ward to with pleasure, predisposes him to regard favourably 
the barrack system in his boardins^-school. The 

Dormitories. • • <. i r* n i i 

dormitories of the btoy bchool are scrupulously 
clean, but absolutely wanting in those conveniences which 
American boys consider indispensable. The single pair of 
hooks at the head of each bed and the row of towels sur- 
rounding the general wash-stand were the sole articles of use 
or luxury that I could detect. The bedsteads are of iron, 
single, and without springs. Each boy provides his own mat- 
tresses and bedding, as well as towels, napkins, spoons and 
personal clothing. The requirements in these respects are 
unusually large, and bespeak a good class of patronage. A 
boy's school expenses vary from 1,200 to 1,500 marks yearly. 
The household management is exceptionally good. In sys- 
tematic precision it is truly German — and Prussian at that. 
The housekeeper, besides the customary duties 
of such a position, takes entire charge of the 
boy's wardrobe and keeps it under lock and key. Except at 
stated times, a boy may not have even a change of handker- 
chiefs without a written order from the Direhtor. Twice a 
week clean underwear is given out, and the soiled articles 
gathered up from the dormitories the next day. In the linen- 
room there is a case for each boy's clothing ; every article, 
even to the shoes, must be marked with the boy's number. 
Special requests for clothing may be made to the head-master 
after supper ; the orders are written in the housekeeper's 
book, and the articles, as ordered, are delivered in the sleep- 



STUDENT LIFE IN THE HIGHER SCHOOLS 201 

ing-rooms before the boys go to bed. Orders for the shoe- 
maker and tailor are taken in the same way, by number, and 
the record is retained by the housekeeper, through whom all 
such business is transacted. In this work the housekeeper is 
assisted by a maid ; she has, too, under her direction a cook, 
two waitresses, who also do the chamber work, and two resi- 
dent porters and their wives. The laundry work is done in 
town, the housekeeper being responsible merely for the mend- 
ing. 

The school is a Realschule with six classes. In addition 
there is a lower school of three classes, for boys from six to 
nine years, which is intended to fit for any 
kind of higher school. The school usually 
numbers about one hundred and fifty pupils, most of the 
lower school and some of the older boys being day pupils. 
French is taught from the beginning of the course, and 
English the last three years. Latin and Greek may be had 
only in private lessons. Mathematics and the sciences are 
especially emphasized. Elective subjects are quite unknown, 
as indeed is the case in all German schools. 

The masters, twelve in all, are appointed by the Direlctor, 
subject to confirmation by the state department of education. 
The qualifications are the same as for the pub- 

. ... The Masters. 

lie higher schools, i.e.^ university training fol- 
lowed by the state examination, and then a year in a peda- 
gogical seminary and another year as trial teacher in a higher 
school. The assistant city pastor gives lessons in religion, 
and there are two special music teachers. The salaries are 
practically the same as for the public schools, 1,800-4,000 
marks. New appointees, beginning at the minimum, are 
advanced annually 100 marks for the first ten years, after 
which private arrangements are made. The ordinary super- 
vision of the hall is divided among the masters, whether 
resident or not, each taking a day in turn ; and a day means 
twenty-four hours ! At Schulpforta the masters serve a 
week about, taking the entire discipline, day and night. On 
Sundays and half-holidays extra supervision is required from 



202 GEBMAJSr HIOHER SCHOOLS 

the younger masters. Three conferences a week are held — ■ 
two on house matters and one for the school. Subjects for 
discussion arise from the written reports of the supervisors 
and from the class-books, in which are noted the main points 
of every lesson and the progress and deportment of the 
pupils. Aside from these conferences, the masters not on 
duty are entirely free. In view of the fact that the average 
teacher gives not more than twenty lessons a week, it must 
be acknowledged, I think, that a master's position in a Ger- 
man boarding-school is not only more secure but less irksome 
than usually obtains in American schools. The difference in 
the national customs and modes of life is undoubtedly the 
prime reason ; but, whatever be the causes, the fact remains 
that the German is more independent and can less justly 
complain of the never-ending round of extraneous duties in- 
cident to boarding-school life. 

By courtesy of the head-master I was enabled, on March 5, 

1894, to spend an entire day with the boys of the Stoy School. 

It was not yet daylight when I began my 

Experience I'o^nds witli the tcacher in charge. At six 
o'clock the boys are called. One sleepy lad 
fumbles around for a bit of paper, and when it is found he 
brings it to the master for his signature. It is explained to 
me that the poor fellow has the pernicious habit of sleeping 
a little late in the morning — and you know Germans must 
never be late — hence tliis collection of teachers' autographs. 
Half an hour is allowed for dressing, turning down the beds 
and putting all in order ; at 6.30 the sleepiest boy of the lot 
must leave the room, not to return till 9 p.m. The dormi- 
tories are then carefully inspected by one of the boys, who 
notes in a book the numbers of those luckless chaps that 
have forgotten to hang up their towels, to open the windows, 
or otherwise have done oifence to the letter of the law. 
In the meantime the boys are exchanging, in the corridor 
below, their house-slippers for shoes, which have been care- 
fully polished for them overnight and placed by the porter 
in the numbered compartments of a large case. Next they 



STUDENT LIFE IN THE HIGHER SCHOOLS 203 

line up on each side of the hallway, where they are inspected 
by the master ; the roll is called by number, each boy speak- 
ing out his own. The monitors — the Heifer y so called — 
one for the sleeping quarters, another for the study-rooms 
and boot-case are appointed by the faculty from the upper 
classes and serve for one week ; then give their report. De- 
linquents must at once make good their failures ; then break- 
fast is announced. Before taking places at the tables all 
gather about the piano to sing the Morgenlied ; to-day it is 
a single stanza of one of Luther^s hymns. 

The breakfast would scarcely satisfy an American boy — two 
small rolls (no butter) and a cup of tea for the elder pupils, 
hot milk for the younger ones, is the entire bill 

Breakfast 

of fare. But it is the German custom to break- 
fast on coffee and rolls. The room is of ample size, finished 
in dark woods and ornamented with the ever-present signs 
of German patriotism — the busts of the recent Emperors, 
Bismarck, Moltke, Schiller and Goethe. I remark that the 
circle is incomplete, as the Grand Duke and Duchess and the 
Empress are wanting ; but I am told that it is for lack of 
room, not of loyalty, that it so happens. 

After breakfast comes an hour of study. There are four 
rooms for this purpose, three of them connected and under 
the supervision of a teacher ; the first class and , „ 

^ n . 1 . . study-Hours. 

a few selected from the second enjoy the privi- 
lege of a separate room under the guidance of a monitor. 
Each boy has a table with drawer, and woe to him who lets 
confusion enter here ; besides this he is allotted a shelf in the 
general bookcase and a small cupboard, which is under lock 
and key. This last is the boy's own, his sole possession that 
escapes inspection. I got a glimpse of the contents of one 
compartment belonging to a twelve-year-old : a pair of skates, 
a ball, an old cap, a handkerchief or two that had escaped 
the housekeeper — so much was on the surface, the rest must 
be left to imagination. At eight o'clock we go to the school- 
house, where we assemble in the drawing-room to sing the 
morning song. Recitations begin at the first quarter of the 



204 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

hour and last forty-five minutes eacli. According to the Ger- 
man plan each class, with the exception of the Vorschule, 
recites every period. The schedule for the 
upper classes, therefore, calls for some thirty- 
three to thirty-five periods a week, but naturally little outside 
preparation is expected. 

At ten o'clock comes the second breakfast. Each boy gets 

a generous slice of black bread with butter, which he eats 

while at play in the yard. And here let me 

Second Breakfast. , l_^ i- ^■\ >a > l.^ ^ ^ ^ 

remark, parenthetically, that the second break- 
fast is even of more consequence than the first ; the roll and 
coffee may be dispensed with, but not so with the Butterlrot. 
In the VolhsscJiuIen the pupils generally are equipped with two 
huge slices of very black bread and a minimum of butter. At 
this mass the child gnaws away during every intermission of 
the morning, and notwithstanding the size of the piece — often 
eight to ten inches long by two thick — I have seldom seen a 
division made of the lunch for the different periods. Suffi- 
cient unto the day is the bread thereof ! 

The work of the morning is finished at twelve, save on 
Wednesdays and Saturdays, when it runs till one o'clock, be- 
cause of the afternoon half-holidays. At 12.15 
the study-tables and bookcases at the hall must 
be in perfect order. The boys then line up in the corridor, 
as in the morning, for inspection, rollcall and the report of 
the Helfei'. By eights they go to the lavatory to make ready 
for dinner, which is served promptly at 12.30. It consists 
to-day of boiled rice and beef, prepared, I am told, according 
to a recipe brought by one of the pupils from his home in 
Greece. It appears to be relished by the boys, who return 
their plates for two or three extra portions. Black bread 
completes the list. There is no butter, nothing to drink — 
not even water. The hour after dinner most of the boys 
spend in play about the yard. In the meantime I am initiated 
into the mysteries of the higher circle. The masters gather 
in the room of one of their number, who serves us with cof- 
fee, cakes and cigars. Thus a pleasant hour is spent before 



STUDENT LIFE IN THE HIGHER SCHOOLS 205 

the afternoon work begins. From two o'clock till four reci- 
tations are held^ as in the morning ; the Vorscliiile, however, 
is free. From four until five the masters are in conference 
over the final examination papers of the first class. A little 
before five the boys again put on their slippers, and are then 
admitted to the dining-room, wliere they find slices of black 
bread spread with Pfiaumenmitss, a sort of 
prune marmalade. A few, by order of their 
parents, get also a bowl of hot milk. No especial order is 
kept during this afternoon meal — Vesperhrot, so-called ; some 
sit at the tables or in the window-seats, others walk about 
the hallways. Soon the bell sounds for study. At 6.45 
there is another roll-call, inspection, etc., in preparation for 
supper. 

The evening meal is the most interesting one, perhaps be- 
cause the most elaborate of the day. We find at each table 
a large platter piled high with sandwiches of 
black bread and smoked herring. Tea and milk 
are served, and there is plenty of butter. In an astonishingly 
short time the platter is cleaned and replenished again, but 
this time with corned-beef in place of herring. Whether or 
not the change is a concession to my American stomach I 
cannot say, but I have no doubt that the original package 
bore the brand, "Chicago Corned-Beef." At the end of the 
meal the Jiead-master notes the wants of the boys : first in 
the tailor's book — No. 15 has torn his coat, 33 wants buttons 
on his vest, while nothing short of cleaning and pressing will 
suit the fastidious taste of 47 ; next is the shoemaker's turn, 
and various are the orders for new soles and _ ^ 

Wants. 

patches that he gets ; m yet another book are 
noted the numbers of those who last night disturbed the 
peace of one sleeping-room, and in consequence are sentenced 
to do special tasks in the study-room for an hour after their 
peaceful comrades are in bed. Special requests from the 
first class are granted those who wish to be called an hour 
earlier to-morrow morning — the dreaded " final " is only one 
week distant. Still another book goes to the housekeeper. 



206 GERMAN HIOHER SCHOOLS 

Ten minutes are thus spent and no end of annoyance saved 
for twenty-four hours to come. 

At 7.30 all boys go to the shops. Here they work in 
five divisions, corresponding in general to the school years : 
the beginners are busied with paper work — box- 
making, bookbinding, etc. ; the second division 
uses hand fret-saws ; next come classes in wood-carving, car- 
pentry and wood-turning in order. This work, which is in 
charge of master workmen from the town, is carried on only 
during the winter on Monday, Tuesday and Friday evenings. 
Some good pieces are turned out ; but on account of the short 
time of training and the somewhat cramped quarters, the re- 
sults are mainly beneficial by way of diversion for the pupils. 
I doubt not that the dormitories will be the more quiet to- 
night in consequence of the evening's employment, and the 
poor lads who must put in an extra hour of penance will find 
their tasks the more trying. The bell rings at nine o'clock 
for Ahendlied. Again all gather about the piano in the din- 
ing-room, and, under the leadership of the head-master's 
wife, sing the evening song, a single stanza of a well-known 
hymn. The boys then pass in single file before Frau Stoy 
and tlie teachers present, shaking hands with all and wishing 
all good-night. Fifteen minutes later the 
peaceful part of the community is in bed. The 
work of the day is completed with the final inspection of the 
dormitories by the two teachers who sleep with the boys to- 
night. We pass from room to room, turn down the lights 
and say '^ 0%ite NacM,'^ the signal for quiet. That the 
average boy will gladly heed the injunction I am persuaded 
no less by the drowsy replies that reach our ears than from 
my own feelings at the prospect of coming rest after a long 
day of interesting and novel experiences. 

The order for Sunday is varied by rising an hour later, 
church from 9.30 to 11.00, after which a period is set apart in 
which letters must be written home. At din- 
ner beer is served to those who wish it, all 
getting one glass, the older boys two glasses. Sunday after- 



STUDENT LIFE IN THE HIOHER SCHOOLS 207 

noons, as on the Wednesday and Saturday half-holidays, the 
entire school, in charge of one or two masters, takes a long 
walk ; on week days the excursion rarely lasts longer than 
two hours, but on Sunday it is customary to prolong it to 
tliree or more. In summer the first order for Sunday morn- 
ing is a swim in the river at six o^'clock ; on week days the 
bathing hour is 4 p.m., and every boy in the school must 
join in the sport under the eye of the master and the teacher 
in charge. On Wednesday and Saturday evenings, when 
swimming is not possible, the boys go to the bath-room 
dressed in bathing-suits and there enjoy a shower-bath en 
masse. The head-master takes special supervision of this 
hour. On retiring each boy finds on his bed a complete 
change of linen and underwear, which he must wear on the 
morrow. Once a month on a half-holiday there is a general 
hair-cutting, the barber coming to the hall, after which each 
boy takes a warm tub-bath. 

The Stoy school has been distinguished from the days of 
the " old doctor, ^^ as I hear him called, for especial attention 
to bodily development, even making the physi- 
cal training as important an item in the curric- Tra^nTng. 
ulum as any other. The long walks above 
mentioned on three days of the week tend directly to this 
end. The summer trips, of which I shall speak later, are 
not only valuable from a general educational point of view, 
but they serve to test the bodily vigour of the boys. The 
preparation, however, which enables even the youngest boys 
to undergo long tramps for twenty days in succession con- 
sists mainly in class exercises in gymnastics. The gymna- 
sium {T'urnhalle) is fitted up with parallel and horizontal 
bars, and such apparatus as is necessary for vaulting, jump- 
ing, etc. In comparison with an American gymnasium of 
the better class the outfit is scanty, but the deficiency is 
in large part made good by outdoor apparatus. Poles and 
ladders for climbing, all framed together, and bars of various 
kinds, find a place here. It is needless to say that the boys 
appreciate most what is at all times accessible to them. I 



208 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

have seen a dozen of the smaller lads, bareheaded in mid- 
winter, climbing around like monkeys on the highest frame- 
work and apparently enjoying the fun to the utmost, despite 
the slippery rods and the flying snow. Once a week the en- 
tire school has a class exercise in gymnastics {Turnen), and 
on two other days the juniors and seniors exercise separately. 
For this purpose the scholars are divided into groups of six 
or eight, each with a leader, or so-called Vortur?ier. In a 
special hour on Sunday the Vorturnier receive directions and 
drill in new movements which, with the master's help, they 
are expected to carry out in the exercises of the week. 

It was my pleasure to attend the Stoy Turnfest held in 
August, 1893, on the last vSunday of the semester. The student 

body marched into the play-ground in column 
Exhiwtfon ^^ fours, headed by a drum corps and buglers. 

Following some evolutions, a hearty song was 
sung and an exhibition given on the j^arallel bars by ten of 
the older boys. The upper school then separated into squads 
of eight, each of which had a special task, e.g., vaulting, 
jumping, exercise on horse, buck and bars. Calisthenics and 
games by the lower school called out some applause. But 
to an American the striking feature was the lack of all com- 
petition; and, indeed, not till toward the end of the pro- 
gram was any spirit manifested, and that only in running 
and pole-climbing. Nevertheless, it would be an error to 
conclude that the boys found little pleasure in the perform- 
ance ; on the contrary, the winners received as hearty con- 
gratulations as one could wish, and the prizes and laurel 
wreaths were as proudly displayed as if won in that heroic 
struggle miscalled foot-ball. The pent-up enthusiasm of the 
day seemed to find full expression at the close of the singing 
of " Dents chland, Deutschland, ilher alles." 

I am told that there are field-sports ; but I have seen none 
of them save a flimsy attempt at foot-ball, a recent importa- 
tion from England. The fact is, there is no time for sports 
as we know them ; there are no two hours of the week in 
succession not provided for in the school schedule. The 



STUDENT LIFE IN THE HIGHER SCHOOLS 209 

theory that short periods of alternate work and rest produce 
the best results is characteristically German ; but, as one of 
the boys remarked to me, '' two '^ works ^ to one 
' play ' is nearer the truth." There is as little ^^^i^^sports 

. "^ . . . ''^s. Music. 

time for indoor diversion as for sports. The 
absence of a boys' parlor or reading-room testifies to this. 
But in music they find a solace quite unknown in American 
boys' schools. There are three music teachers : one gives his 
entire time to the violin, piano and orchestra ; a second con- 
ducts the singing, and a third gives private lessons on the 
'cello. Twice a term there is a private musical recital, fol- 
lowed by dancing, to which the boys' friends are invited ; 
every other year in midwinter a public recital and ball are 
given in the town opera-house ; in alternate years a large 
masquerade ball is held, to the great satisfaction of the boys. 
The birthdays of the Emperor, the Grand Duke and Luther 
are also publicly celebrated — generally by speeches interspersed 
jvith music. 

The great event of the year, however, the one around v/hich 
all extraneous interest centres, is the Scliulreise of the sum- 
mer holidays. More than forty 3^ears ago Pro- 
fessor Stoy undertook, with the boys of his ourneys. 
training-school, his first trip into the Thuringian forest. 
Thenceforth it was made a veritable part of the curriculum, 
and many and strange are the stories told of incidents con- 
nected with these early tours. In these days the journeys 
are more pretentious, owing to the greater depth of the 
patrons' pockets. Early in July the boarders, with the entire 
corps of teachers, spend four days in the Thuringian forest. 
In 1893 the region between Blankenburg and Ooburg, in- 
cluding the Schwarzerthal, was explored. On the way glass- 
works and stone-quarries were visited, and a day was spent at 
the famous old castle in Coburg. But the real pilgrimages 
come in August. The hall is divided into three parties, ac- 
cording to age and strength of the pupils, and to each party 
three or four teachers are assigned. The first division, led 
by the head-master, usually goes to South Germany j a few 

14 



210 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

days are spent in Munich, with the special view of studying 
architecture and the rich collections of the city museums, 
after which the Bavarian Alps are visited. Last August the 
route included Nuremberg and Augsburg ; thence through 
Switzerland into Tyrol, and on to Venice ; thence back to 
Munich. During this trip of three weeks, the boys were 
most of the time on foot ; travel by rail was of course neces- 
sary, but was indulged in sparingly. The total expense per 
boy was 140 marks. 

The customary routes for the second division are (1) the 

Harz Mountains and the Ehine Valley ; (2) Dresden, Prague 

and Bohemia, or (3) the Bohemian forest, along 

the Danube to Passau, Nuremberg, home. The 

third party goes to the upper valley of the Saale, and thence 

through the forest to Eisenach. 

The educational value of these journeys lies chiefly in the 
fact that, inasmuch as the entire hall must join them, a gen- 
eral 2''i'eparation can be made a part of the 
^^duc^^^ school-work for a year in advance, and the re- 
sults summed up afterward in permanent form. 
The routes are carefully planned from the beginning of the 
fall term by the masters in conference. Accurate maps are 
drawn by the boys, and every effort is made to arouse the sci- 
entific imagination. The history of art, especially in archi- 
tecture, is studied, and the lessons in general history are made 
to supplement the special means of preparation. On the trip 
each boy makes notes and sketches of the chief points of in- 
terest ; these are worked over immediately at the end of the 
trip, that nothing be lost. Before Christmas it is expected 
that he will write a complete history of his journey, and, as 
this is a part of the essay writing for the fall term, the pupil 
profits from suggestions from his teacher, and has the addi- 
tional stimulus of writing on his own experiences and making 
a book for himself. Some of these accounts are most interest- 
ing. I have seen one of some three hundred octavo pages, 
bound in two volumes, written by a member of the second di- 
vision ; with its tasty head-lines, initial letters and numerous 



STUDENT LIFE IN THE HIGHER SCHOOLS 211 

pen-and-ink sketches, it is really artistic. To be sure, not all 
the boys are artists ; but most of them can show a good ac- 
count of what they have seen. 

To promote good fellowship among the students, the school 
is divided into five clubs, KamGradscUaften, to each of which 
belong two or three teachers. The older mem- 

-. , 1 . • 1 1 r. J 1 student Clubs. 

bers of a club are m a way responsible lor the 
conduct of their fellows. Comrades are expected at all times 
to be mutaally helpful, and it is a point of honour that the 
strong should aid the weak. Pin-money for the boys is de- 
posited with the senior masters, according to KanieradscJiaf- 
ten ; cash-books must be kept by all, and those of the juniors 
are left with the masters. The usual allowance varies from 
one mark fifty a month for the youngest to three marks for 
the seniors. 

There is little need, as we have seen, for boys to go into 
town on errands, and the permission is rarely granted. The 
desire for sweetmeats, no less strong here than 
elsewhere, is scarcely considered a legitimate ex- 
cuse ; but with true Yankee ingenuity a young friend of mine 
— I hope he will not count me an informer, after such a lapse 
of time — is doing a flourishing business as a result of the ban. 
These operations, confined as they are to imports — whether on 
the theory of free-trade or tariff for revenue only, I am not 
informed — undoubtedly contribute not a little to the commer- 
cial training of all concerned. But mischief is not rampant 
among the Stoy boys ; indeed, one must look long and closely 
to detect signs of the ordinary human weaknesses. This is 
due in part to the thorough supervision, but a still more 
potent cause is that these boys are Germans — and Germans 
are born to obey. 

No feature of German school life calls out more criticism 
from foreigners than the seemingly exacting discipline, espe- 
cially of Prussian schools. Good masters have 
remarked to me — and I am inclined to credit 
the statement — that the average school-boy considers an amia- 
ble teacher as a prodigy fit only for girls' schools. The all- 



212 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

pervading military spirit tends in a different direction. Most 
boys are anxious to serve in the army^ if they can do it as 
volunteers. Something by way of a uniform and brass but- 
tons is the delight of the youngsters^ and as they grow older 
their favourite game of " war-play '' is barely left off before 
the days of actual service. But there is a wide difference be- 
tween a conscript and a volunteer : the one serves two years 
at no expense to himself ; it costs the other at least fifteen 
hundred marks for the privilege of wearing the " Emperor's 
coat " one year. It is not the dilf erence in length of service 
that begets the eager volunteer, nor yet the desire to expend 
a sum greater than is necessary for a year's attendance at the 
university ; but above all considerations stands social rank. 
To have had ten years of successful schooling counts for 
nothing when reckoned Avith that higher distinction of be- 
longing to a family that can afford the ten years of training 
and the fifteen hundred marks besides. There it is in a nut- 
shell ! Not only the boy himself, but his entire family as 
well are concerned in his success at school. The final exami- 
nation must be passed at all hazards, and no means thereto, 
however severe or exacting, if successful in the past, will be 
repudiated by the patron. Tlie boy can afford to take no 
chances. The result is an obedience bordering on servility. 
It is a factor of prime importance in estimating correctly the 
peculiarities of German schools, and especially must it be 
reckoned with in the boarding-school. The original causes 
are to be sought in the social and national life rather than in 
the personality of the teacher. 

General References : — Jahresbericliie and announcements of Schulp- 
forta, St. Afra in Meissen, Grimma, Rossleben and the Stoy'sche Erzie- 
hungs-Anstalt in Jena. 



CHAPTER XI 

INSTRUCTION IN RELIGION 

" See to it that your children above all things are instructed 
in divine things^ that you first dedicate them to God and theti 
to worldly matters/' was Luther's advice to the 
German people. And down to the present cen- ^d^Te^ 
tury the chief end of all school teaching was the 
training- of young men for the ministry and of a laity that 
would accept their leadership. Even under a national school 
system the principal function of the German school is offi- 
cially declared to be the making of '' God-fearing, patriotic, 
self-supporting citizens." It is recognised that the harmo- 
nious development of the human mind means more than merely 
intellectual acuteness ; the heart must grow with the head, if 
the whole man is to be developed. A character lacking re- 
ligious knowledge, principles and ideals is not an ideal char- 
acter. Too much of our modern civilization is founded on 
Judaism and Christianity to make it possible to dispense with 
a knowledge of these religions, and too much is involved in 
the religious life to make it safe for the state to disregard 
spiritual training. On utilitarian grounds, therefore, if there 
were no better reasons, the German states insist on the teach- 
ing of religion in all elementary and secondary schools. 

It never occurs to a German that there could 
be a valid reason for excluding religious in- EsseBtiai Part 
struction from th^ public schools. He would of German 
as soon think of eliminating the entire national 
literature, as the Bible, from the school curricula. As 
literature, if nothing else, he would accord it a prominent 

213 



214 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

place. But iu protestant Germany the Bible, Luther's Cat- 
echisms and Luther's Hymns are reverenced above all books ; 
to the masses they are constant reminders of their religious 
liberties. And Luther's words are words of life to his people. 

The fact that there are fewer religious sects in Germany 
than in America accounts in part for the retention of religious 
instruction long after the separation of school 
Three Religious ^^^ cliurcli. There are practically only three 
denominations : Lutheran, Catholic and Jew- 
ish. Nearly two-thirds of the total population are adherents 
of the Evangelical Church ; roughly speaking, they make up 
all central Germany. The Roman Catholics are next in im- 
portance, and are to be found especially in Bavaria, along the 
Rhine and in the extreme eastern part of the empire. Jews 
are everywhere, but particularly in the cities. 

The historical relations of church and school can still be 

traced in the designation of every public secondary school 

as protestant, catholic or Jewish, according to 

^Teachers"^ the confession of the majority of the scholars. 
In a protestant school, for example, the di- 
rector and most of the teachers will be members of the Evan- 
gelical Church, and the instruction of the classes in religion 
will be given by the regular teachers. But in case there are 
at least twenty-five children of another faith in the school, a 
class must be formed for them and a teacher engaged who be- 
longs to their church. The teacher may be a member of the 
regular staff, if he has a certificate for the subject ; or, what 
is more likely, a local minister will be called in and installed 
as special teacher, in the employ of the state. In the large 
cities it generally happens that one higher school will be 
Jewish, another catholic and the rest protestant. Whenever 
there are two or more higher schools of different confessions, 
the dissenting pupils in one will be sent to another school for 
instruction in religion. 

It is the constitutional prerogative of every parent that his 
children shall not be compelled to attend religious instruc- 
tion contrary to his own belief, and that no child shall be 



INSTRUCTION IN RELIGION 215 

denied admission to the public schools on religions grounds. 
On the other hand, every child in the secondary schools 
must receive some instruction in religion ; if 
not received in the schools, the parents must Religious 
provide for it privately in a systematic way and ReqiSred. 
from regularly authorized instructors. 

General-superintendents of the Evangelical Church, catho- 
lic bishops and Jewish rabbis are permitted at stated times 
to inspect the religious instruction of their re- 
spective confessions, but they have no right to ^u^e^^^g-^n^ 
interfere in any way with the work of the teach- 
ers. If they have criticisms to offer, they must address them 
to the provincial school-boards, who are authorized to take 
such action as may seem expedient. While the church has 
no direct control of religious instruction in secondary schools, 
this right of supervision puts the church in a position to 
know what is being taught and indirectly to direct its course. 
Moreover, one school inspector in each province is generally 
a catholic, which insures a respectful hearing of the views of 
the minority. Inasmuch as the state church of Prussia is 
evangelical, it follows that the religious instruction in the 
protestant schools is more directly under state control than 
is the teaching in other schools. But no instruction is given 
without official sanction. The government appoints all teach- 
ers, prescribes the courses of study, approves the text-books 
and tests the results by examination. 

Teachers of religion are trained, certificated and appointed 
like all other teachers ; they enjoy the same rank, honours 
and emoluments as other teachers. In fact, 
unusual significance is attached to these posi- Teachers 
tions. Instructors in religion must not only 
be scholars and skilful teachers, but they must also possess 
high moral character and gentlemanly bearing, such as will 
exercise an unconscious influence for good over the young. 
The examining boards and school insj^ectors are specially 
warned to pass no candidate who does not possess these 
characteristics in an eminent degree. The ability to lead 



216 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

and inspire boys and young men is the essential prerequisite 
to this office. A ministerial rescript of 1826 admonishes all 
teachers of religion not to forget the responsibilities of their 
position. They are not merely to train the intellect, but to 
educate their pupils to high Christian citizenship ; it is their 
duty to inculcate not simply a pleasing theory of morals, but 
faith in the living God and in Christ as the Saviour of men. 
The text-books used must express correctly the doctrines of 
the Evangelical Church, which make religion the basis of all 
morals, and which represent a living faith in Jesus Christ and 
salvation through Him as the end to be attained.^ 

Teachers of religion are not confined to this subject alone. 
Religion may be taken as a major or minor in the state ex- 
amination, like otlier subjects, and the certifi- 

Certification. , . t n , • ,i i • ^ • ^ 

cate received determines the grades m winch 
instruction may be given. In the Friedrichs- Gymnasium in 
Berlin, nine out of twenty-four members of the faculty teach 
religion ; two of the nine have made religion their major 
subject. The subjects which are naturally allied with re- 
ligion are German, the classical languages and history. 

The following is the course in religion, as outlined in the 
. ^ in'osrram of the Friedrichs-Gipnnasium in Ber- 

Pmssian Course ' o *^ 

of Study. lin, for the year 1895-1896 : 

Sexta: 3 hours. Selections from the Old Testament, es- 
pecially the early history, the patriarchs, Moses, David, Elias 
and Elisha, according to the Schulz-Klix, BiMisches-Lese- 
buck. Selections from the New Testament relating to the 
birth, resurrection and ascension of Christ. Explanation of 
the Christmas, Easter and Whitsuntide holidays. Learning 
of the first part of the Catechism, with Luther's exjiosition. 
Drill on biblical quotations and four church hymns (Nos. 6, 
1, 33, 35 in Lesehuch). 

Quinta : 2 hours. Selections from the New Testament 
relating to the life of Christ. Learning of second part of 
Catechism, with Luther's exposition. Biblical quotations. 
Review of the Catechism and hymns learned in Sexta, and the 
learning of four new hymns (Nos. 8, 30, 22, 25 in Lesehuch). 

' Wiese-Kubler, Verordnungen und Gesetze, I., pp. 162-3. 



INSTRUCTION IN RELIGION 217 

Quartet : 2 lionrs. Winter — Eeading of tlie more impor- 
tant parts of the New Testament : The Sermon on the Mount, 
Parables (Matt, xiii., Luke xv.). Travels of the Apostle 
Paul. Review of the life of Christ, at the holiday time. The 
books of the Bible. Practice in quotations. Summer — 
Reading of more important parts of the Old Testament, with 
especial reference to the prophets, and part of Apocrypha. 
Geography of Palestine. Tliroughout the year a study of the 
third part of Catechism, with Luther's exposition ; memoriz- 
ing of Parts I V. and V. Review of the Catechism and hymns 
learned in Qainta and Sexta. Drill on four new hymns 
(Nos. 2, 15, 18, 24 in Lesehuclt), and Psalms xxiii., xlvi. and 
cxxxix., 1-12, 23-24. 

Untertertia : 2 hours. Reading of selections from the Old 
Testament relating to the history of the Israelites ; also from 
the Psalms and Job. History of the church calendar and 
the significance of the church festivals. Review of the Cate- 
chism and biblical selections, and memorizing of hymns 
(Nos. 12, 28, 26, 21 in Lesehuclt), scriptural texts and Psalms 
xc, ciii., 1-13, and cxxvi. 

Ohertertia : 2 hours. Selections from the New Testament, 
especially the Sermon on the Mount and the Parables. The 
history of the Reformation, in connection with the life of 
Luther. Review of the Catechism, biblical quotations and 
hymns already learned. Discussion and explanation of the 
sacraments, in connection with the history of the Reforma- 
tion. 

Untersecimda : 2 hours. Exegesis of the Gospel accord- 
ing to St. Matthew. Biblical antiquities and literature. 
Reading of selections from the prophets. Job and Psalms, and 
the story of the crucifixion according to Mark, Luke and 
John. Comprehensive review of the Catechism and of the 
selections and hymns already learned. 

Ohersecunda : 2 hours. Apostolic history. Epistle to the 
Philippians. The church calendar. Review of the Cate- 
chism, biblical selections, hymns and Psalms previously mem- 
orized. 

Unterprima : 2 hours. Summer — Chief epochs in church 
history. Christianity and the heathen powers. Dissension 
in the Apostolic Church. The most important Church 
Fathers — Augustine and Pelagius and Boniface. Rise of the 
Roman Catholic Church. Scholasticism and mysticism : their 
bearing on the Reformation. The most important tendencies 
in the subsequent development of the Evangelical Church. 



218 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

Pietism (Spener and Francke), the Moravians, home missions, 
sects. Winter — Exegesis of the Grospel according to St. John. 
Oie7yrima : 2 honrs. Winter — Exegesis of the Epistle to 
the Romans. Summer — Dogmatic Tlieology and Christian 
Ethics, in connection with Art. i.-xvi., xviii. and xx. of the 
Augustinian Confession. Outline history of the church hymns. 

The course of study is so arranged that in the lower 
classes special attention is given to Bible stories, mostly bio- 
graphical, and to memorizing church hymns, 
the catechism and selected scriptural texts. 
The middle grades aim to present a tolerably complete notion 
of the Christian religion, as expounded by Luther, some 
church history and the significance of the forms and cere- 
monies of the church. Although after Untertertia no more 
formal memorizing is required, frequent reviews help the 
pupils to retain what they have previously acquired. In the 
upper grades the character of the work is somewhat changed. 
A general study of the history, antiquities and literature of 
Holy Writ and a history of the Christian Church are intro- 
duced. Special attention is given in all classes to broad read- 
ing, research and exegesis, not of isolated passages, but of 
complete parts and books. 

The methods of teaching religion are practically the same 
as those employed in teaching German and history. The 
teacher tells the story of the lesson, or has it 
read by the class. Then follows a discussion 
by question and answer of the chief points, with a view to 
bringing out clearly the ethical or religious truths involved. 
The lesson generally centres around some scriptural text, 
which is committed to memory as an index of the whole. 
This practice accounts for the great amount of memorizing 
generally required in the lower grades. In 1871 the de- 
partment of education recommended the following list of 
scriptural texts, to be learned in connection with Luther^s 
Catechism : ^ 

Sexta: 2 Tim. iii. 15-17; John xvii. 17; Matt. xxii. 37- 

' Wiese-Kiibler, Verordnungen und Geseize^ I., pp. 165-6. 



INSTRUCTION IN RELIGION 219 

40, X. 28 ; 1 John v. 3 ; Ps. xxxvii. 5 ; Jas. iii. 9-10 ; Matt. 
V. 37 ; Gal. vi. 7-8 ; Ps. 1. 15 ; Ex. xx. 9-10 ; Luke xi. 28 ; 
Eph. vi. 1-2; Prov. xxx. 17; Eom. xiii. 1; ggjg^^tionst 
Hebrews xiii. 17 ; Eph. v. 3-5 ; Matt. v. 8 ; 1 ^Memorized ^ 
Tim. vi. 9-10 ; Hebrews xiii. 16 ; Eph. iv. 25 ; 
Matt. xii. 36 ; Jas. i. 13-15 ; Gal. v. 24 ; 1 John ii. 15-17 ; 
Matt. xxvi. 41. 

Quinta : Eph. ii. 8-9 ; Hebrews xi. 1 ; Rom. i. 19-20 ; 
Eonio ii. 14-15 ; John. iv. 24 ; Ps. cxv. 3 ; Ps. xc. 2 ; 1 John 
iv. 16 ; Rom. xi. 33-34 ; Ps. cxxxix. 1-4 ; Ps. v. 5 ; Jer. ii. 
19 ; 2 Cor. xiii. 13 ; Ps. civ. 24 ; Ps. xxxiii. 13-15 ; Matt. x. 
29-31 ; Isa. xlv. 7 ; Hebrews i. 14 ; 1 Peter v. 8-9 ; Rom. v. 
12 ; Gen. viii. 21 ; Eph. iv. 18 ; John iii. 16 ; 1 Tim. i. 15 ; 
Acts iv. 12 ; John x. 30 ; Matt, xxviii. 18 ; Matt, xxviii. 20 ; 
Isa. liii. 4-5 ; 1 Peter i. 18-19 ; 1 Cor. xv. 17 ; Rom. iii. 24- 
25 ; Phil. ii. 12-13 ; Ps. Ii. 5-6 ; Acts xvi. 30-31 ; Gal. v. 
6 ; 1 Tim. iv. 8 ; John xv. 26 ; Ps. cxliii. 10 ; 1 Cor. xii. 3 ; 
2 Cor. V. 17 ; John iii. 3 ; Hebrews ix. 27 ; 2 Cor. v. 10 ; 
John xi. 25-26 ; 1 Cor. xv. 42-44 ; 1 John iii. 2. 

Quarta : 1 Tim. ii. 1-2 ; Ps. ciii. 1-4 ; Ps. cvi. 1 ; Matt. 
XV. 8 ; John xvi. 23 ; Rom. xiv. 17-18 ; Matt. vi. 33 ; Matt, 
vi. 14-15 ; 1 Cor. x. 13 ; Rom. vi. 3 ; Gal. iii. 26-27 ; Acts 
ii. 38 ; 1 Cor. x. 16 ; John vi. 53 ; 1 Cor. xi. 27-29 ; Ps. 
cxxxix. 23-24 ; 1 John i. 9. 

The first period of the school-day is regularly given up to 
the classes in religion ; in case of conflict, the director may 
use the succeeding period. In 1826 a prayer 
was ordered at the beginning and end of every 
school session, but in practice the morning prayer is all that 
is required. Prayer is offered at the opening of all special 
exercises, and once a week, generally Monday mornings, the 
entire school assembles in the auditorium for religious exer- 
cises. The directors of all private schools are required to 
hold morning and evening prayers, say grace at meals, attend 
public worship with their pupils and join with them in the 
church sacraments. 

When pupils reach the age of fourteen or fifteen years, it 
is expected that they will present themselves for confirmation 
at Easter time. For some time previous to this important 
step each pupil receives special instruction from his pastor, as 



220 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

well as that prescribed for the school. A rescript of 1838 
declares that a candidate for confirmation should be familiar 
with (1) the first five parts of the Small Cate- 
chism, the Ten Commandments, the Apostles' 
Creed, the Lord's Prayer ; (2) the titles, order and principal 
contents of the books of the Old and New Testament ; (8) 
the parts of the Bible upon which the important doctrines 
of the Christian religion are founded, and (4) the more com- 
mon church hymns. The special instruction preparatory 
to confirmation is not a part of the regular school work ; 
nevertheless, directors are expected to keep free for this in- 
struction in the middle grades the hour from eleven to twelve 
on two days of the week, and teachers are required to reduce 
the amount of home study in these grades during the four 
weeks preceding Easter. It is at this point where church 
and school come into closest touch ; through the confirma- 
tion class, the local clergy learn more of the religious in- 
struction given in the schools than from any amount of 
official inspection. 

The subject-matter of instruction in religion is mainly 

from the Bible, Luther's Catechism and the church hymns. 

No text-books in German schools have been so 

Subject-Matter ^oncr in nsc as these, and no others are consid- 

of Instruction. ° 

ered so nnportant to-day. It should be noted, 
however, that an expurgated edition of the Bible is always 
used — never a complete edition. But even with the youngest 
children whatever is used is kept in Luther's own words. A 
Child's Bible, or Family Bible, is always Luther's Bible with 
certain passages omitted. Educators believe that the child 
and youth are not prepared to understand the significance of 
all Holy Writ ; the selections used, therefore, must be adapted 
to the pupil's mind, and arranged in such a way as will best 
serve the ends in view. 

There are many comprehensive text-books in use which 
seek to place before the learner all the material for his study 
of religion. I have before me the Schulz-Klix BiUisches 
Lesehuch, which is referred to in the outline above given, and 



INSTRUCTION IN RELIGION 221 

which is perhaps the most popular of all such books. Its 
popularity is seen in its enormous sale ; up to 1890 it had 
passed through fifty-three stereotyped editions. 
Twenty editions have been issued since 1879. 
This book is divided into three parts : (1) Selections from the 
Old Testament, 141 pages ; (2) selections from the New Tes- 
tament, 61 pages ; (3) general commentary, which includes 
(a) biblical information, 4 pages ; (b) chief facts in the geogra- 
phy and history of the Holy Land, 6 pages ; (c) history of the 
Old Testament, 10 pages ; (d) history of the Jews to 70 B.C., 6 
pages ; (e) summary of New Testament teachings, 18 pages ; 
(f) church history, 6 pages ; (g) Luther^s Small Catechism, 
15 pages ; (h) the church calendar, 5 pages ; and (i) thirty- 
six church hymns, 20 pages. 

The selections from the Bible are intended to present a con- 
tinuous narrative from Genesis to Eevelation. The list of 
topics is in itself so instructive that I jaresent 



Biblical 

plete outline of the New Testament selections : 



herewith, as an example of the whole, a com- „ , . 

■^ Selections. 



The Birth of Christ, Luke ii. Infancy of Christ, Matt. ii. 
The Boyhood of Christ, Luke ii. The Baptism by John, 
Matt. iii. Testimony of John, John i. The 
Temptation, Matt. iv. Jesus Begins His Min- From the New 
istry, Mark i.-ii. The Sermon on the Mount, '^^^*^^^"*^- 
Matt. iv. 23-25, v.-vii. The Centurion, Matt. viii. Nicode- 
mus, John iii. The Samaritan Woman, John iv. The 
Woman of Canaan, Matt. xv. The Woman's Faith, Luke vii. 
The Disciples, Matt, ix., x. John the Baptist, Matt, xi., 
Mark vi. The Parables : (1) The Sower, Luke viii. ; (2) 
The Tares, Matt. xiii. ; (3) The Labourers in the Vineyard, 
Matt, xix., XX.; (4) The Prodigal Son, Luke xv. ; (5) The 
Lost Sheep, Matt, xviii. _; (6) The Rich Man, Luke xvi. ; (7) 
The Pharisee, Luke xviii. ; (8) The Good Samaritan, Luke 
X. ; (9) The Great Supper, Luke xiv. ; (10) The Wedding 
Dress, Matt. xxii. ; (11) The Ten Virgins, Matt. xxv. ; (12) 
The Talents, Matt. xxv. The Sayings of Jesus : (1) AVho 
is the Greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven ? Matt, xviii. ; (2) 
Jesus, the Children's Friend, Mark x. ; (3) The Ptich Young 
Man, Matt. xix. ; (4) The Worthlessness of Earthly Goods, 
Luke xii. ; (5) Warning against Arrogance, Luke xiv. ; (6) 



222 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

The Eig Tree, Luke xiii. ; (7) Martha and Mary, Luke x. ; 
(8) Christ, His Mission, Matt. xx. ; (9) The Kingdom, Luke 
xvii. ; (10) The Widow's Mite, Luke xxi. ; (11) Zacchseus, 
Luke xix. The Miracles of Jesus : (1) The Marriage, John 
ii. ; (2) The Draught of Fishes, Luke v. ; (3) Jesus Stills the 
Tempest, Matt. viii. ; (4) The Healing of the Dumb, Mark 
vii. ; (5) At the Pool of Bethesda, John v. ; (6) The Feeding 
of the Four Thousand, Mark viii. ; (7) The Feeding of the 
Five Thousand, John vi. ; (8) Eestoring the Blind to Sight, 
John ix. ; (9) Raising the Widow's Son, Luke vii. ; (10) 
The Daughter of Jairus, Mark v. ; (11) The Outcasts, Luke 
xvii. ; (12) Lazarus, John xi. The Pharisees and Sadducees, 
Matt. XV., xvi., xxii. The Entry into Jerusalem, Matt, xxi., 
Luke xix. Jesus Purges the Temple, Luke xix. Jesus and 
the High Priest, Luke xx. The Last Supper, Luke xxii. 
The Washing of the Feet, John xiii. The Designation of His 
Betrayer, John xiii. Jesus in Gethsemane, Matt. xxvi. Be- 
fore the High Priest, Matt. xxvi. Before Pilate and Herod, 
Luke xxiii., John xviii.-xix. Crucifixion, Luke xxiii., John 
xix. Jesus' Words on the Cross, Luke xxiii., John xix., 
Matt, xxvii. The Burial of Jesus, John xix.. Matt, xxvii. 
The Resurrection, Mark xvi. The Journey to Emmaus, 
Luke xxiv. Jesus Appears to His Disciples, Luke xxiv. The 
Doubting Thomas, John xx. The Last Words of the Lord 
to His Disciples, Mark xvi. The Ascension, Acts i. The 
Outpouring of the Holy Spirit, Acts ii. Peter's Wonderful 
Work, Acts iii. Persecution of the Apostles, Acts iv. An- 
anias and Sapphira, Acts iv., v. The Apostle in Prison, Acts 
V. Stephen, Acts vi., vii. Mission of Paul, Acts ix. Cor- 
nelius, Acts ix., X. Meeting of the Apostles, Acts xi., xv. 

Under the title Die ChristlicUen Confessioneny Schulz- 
Klix gives a short sketch of the origin of the Christian 
Church ; its divisions into the Greek Catholic, 
the Roman Catholic and Protestant branches ; 
the history and contents of the Apostolic, the Nicean and the 
Athanasian creeds ; the doctrines of the Reformed and Lu- 
theran denominations ; their origin, development and union 
in the Evangelical Church ; and the principal articles of the 
Augsburg Confession. 

But what of the results ? Six years of such a book as I 
have been quoting, and three years besides in a study of church 



INSTRUCTION IN UELIGION 223 

history, dogmatic theology and Christian ethics, ought to bear 
magnificent frnit. Undoubtedly in many cases the results 
are all that should be expected, but this cannot 
be said of all. The government is undoubtedly 
right in seeking to attract to this work men of striking per- 
sonality and deep religious faith. But it need not be said 
that this ideal is hard to realize. And when teachers are at 
fault, one must expect to find faults in their work. 

A well-known provincial school inspector stated the case to 
me somewhat in the following manner : It is certainly true 
that a very great change has come over the 
country in the last twenty years. The theory " i"8ms. 
of evolution in the natural world has given rise to critical 
schools in history and theology. Young men have been leaving 
the universities for years with these critical notions in their 
heads, and the definite amount of religious knowledge which 
was once supposed to be essential to every man^s education 
has been steadily growing less. Not a third as much is re- 
quired to-day as was insisted on thirty years ago. The teach- 
ers are not so certain in their beliefs ; the feeling of uncer- 
tainty in the teacher begets uncertain results in the class-room. 
Pupils consequently do not take the same interest in the 
subject. Many of them say openly that the teacher is obliged 
to teach them what he himself does not believe. At any rate, 
the results are unfortunate and are not growing better. It is 
the outcome of a bad philosophy which has been abroad in the 
land for the last half -century. 

In the Kreuzzeitung of November 25, 1894, I find this 
scathing arraignment of German religious life : '^ As matters 
stand at present,^' it was said, " we have a double- 
entry system of spiritual book-keeping. For the ^tt^^v.fS2" 
masses, so far as they attend the elementary 
schools, and, theoretically, for pupils of secondary schools as 
well, we have instruction in religion on the lines of positive 
Christianity, in the name and by the authority of the state. 
In the universities, on the contrary, where the young men 
are being educated who will in time succeed to the leader- 



224 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

ship in chnrcli and state . . . something entirely differ- 
ent is put forward in the name of science ; doctrines are 
preached which stand in sharpest contradiction with those 
given to the people. . . . This is excused on th& ground 
that religion is for the people, and for them it is good enough 
as it is ; science, however, occupies another field and seeks a 
different patronage — the two do not come in contact." 

The church also is far from being satisfied with the relig- 
ious education in the secondary schools, and some influential 

churchmen have attempted to bring about a re- 
position of the P A • ^ ^ ^ J ' x- i. ^^ • 

Clergy. lorm which should give more time to religion. 

This is strongly ojjposed by school-men, on the 
ground that not more time, but better men and better methods, 
are wanted. The prevailing opinion is that there is far too 
much formal memorizing. It is a good thing to know the 
catechism, most of the Psalms, many hymns, and a large part 
of the Bible ; but if the religious life of the child is to be 
stunted thereby, it were better to let some things pass. It is 
said that some text-books give as many as three hundred and 
fifty disconnected scriptural texts to be learned by heart. It 
is no wonder that the letter kills the spirit. The school-men 
complain also that their scholars know the history of the 
Jews better than the history of the Germans. The remedy, 
they say, is not more formal study ; for pupils might spend 
all their time on religion, memorize the entire Bible, and yet 
come out irreligious. Better no catechism than so many tears 
in learning it. 

Professor Kirchner, of Berlin, speaks for the majority of 
his colleagues when he says : '^ If the religious feeling is not 

revered, awakened and fostered [in the home], 
Educators ^^^® scliool caii do vcry little. As a rule, the 

yearning toward God in a child's soul is very 
slight. A surfeit of religious doctrines, maxims, hymns, 
forms, ceremonies, prayers, as experience proves, often pro- 
duces a result precisely opposite to the one intended. Kot 
the school, but the church, has the largest share in fostering 
the increase of piety. Least of all should the school be 



INSTRUCTION IN RELIGION 225 

pressed into the service of a rigid orthodoxy ; it should not 
forget that the educational point of view must be its standard. 
Lessons in religion ought not to be hours dedicated to devo- 
tion, but give instruction in a grave, cheerful manner. The 
school must be content to establish in its pupils genuine relig- 
ious feeling and sound morality. The means of doing so is 
on the one hand instruction, and on the other the teacher's 
example. Hypocritical sanctimoniousness, external atten- 
tion to church forms, nay, even polemics against those who 
hold a different faith, will have no good result. In the 
choice and treatment of subjects the standard must be gen- 
uine religious stimulation, rather than dead knowledge, 
scholastic erudition or barren forms. "^ 

The ministry has now come around to this idea. The new 
curricula lay special stress on the spirit of instruction. '' The 
religious instruction is to be so imparted that 
emphasis shall be laid upon the living accepta- ^^s^^ctionf' 
tion and the inward appropriation of the facts 
of salvation and the Christian duties, and especial attention 
be given to the apologetic and ethical side. Along with con- 
siderable diminution in the amount taught, especially by cut- 
ting out the history of the church and dogma leading to the 
taking sides in religious controversies, the instruction, so far 
as it is based on history, is to be limited to the occurrences 
of enduring significance for the ecclesiastical and religious 
life." 

Still, it is better to have some religious instruction to com- 
plain of than none at all. The situation is not as bad as the 
doubters think. There is a vast deal of excel- 
lent work being done, and I am convinced that "^gftifation^*^ 
students who are seriously entering into their 
school work in other lines are as seriously studying the facts 
and principles of their religion. I rarely found a school-boy, 
whose judgment I considered of value in other matters, who 
was not deeply impressed with the worth of his religious train- 

' Educational Review^ I., pp. 479-80. See also his monograph : Zur 
Reform des Religionsunterrichts^ Berlin, 1876. 
15 



226 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

iug. There is much doubt, much senseless criticism, abroad 
in the land, but its sources are not to be sought in the schools. 
On the contrary, the religion of protestant Germany, as it is 
presented in the schools, is one of the most powerful forces 
making for unity in German life. 

General References :— Schiiren, Gedanhen iiher Religionsunterricht^ 
Giitersloh, 1888 ; Wiese, Der evangelische Religions miterricht^ Berlin, 
1891 ; Meyer, Der evangelische Religionsunterricht an die hoheren Schulen^ 
Hanover, 1876 ; Gottschiek, Der evangel. Rel. Unt. in den oberen Klassen 
hoh. Schulen, Halle, 1884 ; Schrader, Erziehungs und Unterrichtslehre fur 
Gymnasien und Realscliulen^ Berlin, 1893; Schiller, Handhuch der prak- 
tischen Pddagogik filr hohere Lehransialten, Leipsic, 1890; Encyclopedias 
of Schmid and Rein; Wychgram, Handhvch des hoheren Mddchenschul- 
wesens^ Leipsic, 1897; Frick, Pddagogischeund didaktische Ahhandlungen^ 
Halle, 1893. 



CHAPTER XII 

INSTRUCTION IN GERMAN 

The question of how to teach the mother-tongue, and of 
what to teach, and for what ends, is not new to German edu- 
cators. For a generation it has arisen in one 
form or another to vex the devotees of the old 
system, and with each reappearance it has won increased 
favour from the public. It has been discussed scientifically 
on its own merits ; it has been an important factor in the 
wider problem of the national policy in education ; it has 
been invoked as the bulwark of the fatherland against the 
rising tides of social democracy. That there should be una- 
nimity of opinion is scarcely to be expected. My purpose in 
this chapter is to extract from the mass of material at hand 
what seems to me of value to English readers, and at the 
same time to represent as faithfully as I can the essentials of 
theory and practice from the German point of view. 

Instruction in the mother-tongue, it is generally conceded, 
should occupy a central place in the curriculum ; it should 
be treated directly as an independent subject, 
and indirectly in connection with all other sub- ^oTS^Cour^r 
jects of the course ; it should introduce the 
pupil to the national history and literature ; and its especial 
aim should be to beget a readiness in the correct use of the 
oral and written language. While there are few dissenters 
from the first proposition, a glance at the program of a 
Prussian Gymnasium shows sixty- two week-hours assigned 
to Latin and twenty-six to German. This would be contra- 
dictory were it not possible to teach the mother-tongue in- 

327 



228 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

directly. The weight of departmental rulings favours this 
plan. If the Gymiiasieii need for Latin more than twice the 
time that is given to Grerman, they must make the use of 
good German an essential part of the training in Latin. A 
sensible pedagogics bases this demand on higher motives : 
All instruction may not be restricted to the subject in hand ; 
it should also contribute to the general culture. As new 
ideas are acquired words must be found to match them. If 
the pupil is allowed to speak in his vernacular, if his use of 
language is not extended beyond the range of his provincial 
dialect, it is safe to say that the new ideas will lose half their 
value because inadequately expressed. AVith clearness and 
correctness of expression comes a keener insight into the 
mental content. And when every recitation is made indi- 
rectly an exercise in the right use of the mother-tongue ; 
when the pupil is taught to appreciate the value of concise, 
correct and suitable language as tlie exponent of his ideas ; 
when every sentence written for a teacher^s criticism is tested 
not only for content but for form ; and, above all, when the 
teacher is always careful not to offend in written or spoken 
word— when all this is carried out faithfully and cheerfully, 
then is the difficult ptirt of the training already accoDi2:)lished. 
And, further, if the mother-tongue is not taught indirectly 
in connection with every other subject, the hours specially 
devoted to it — be they never so many — will be disappointing. 
It is not possible, if success would be attained, to have our 
speech on parade certain hours of the week and off duty the 
rest of the time. 

The reading of good literature is its own reward; but when, 
as in Germany, the literature breathes the national life and 

spirit, the reader catches an added charm. If 
Literature" ^^^ ^® ^ school-boy, he lingers long over the 

tales of wonderful adventure and stirring pa- 
triotism so characteristic of the fatlierland, and thereby be- 
comes — a German. Not only does he imbibe new feelings, 
new ideas, but unconsciously his tongue acquires something 
of the richness of the language in which he reads — a language 



INSTRUCTION IN GERMAN 229 

new, but yet his own. And the study of foreign chissics, an- 
cient and modern, gives him a deeper insight into the nature 
of the mother-tongue ; the points of comparison not only 
fix the limits of his speech, but suggest greater freedom with- 
in its bounds. With right, then, is the study of literature 
emphasized in German schools. 

Historically, German is one of the most modern subjects in 
the German schools. From the time of Comenius, and even 
earlier, there have been occasional advocates of 
German instruction; but in schools given over ^^^^^oricai 
primarily to Latin there was small place for 
the mother-tongue. Moreover, it was not till late in the 
eighteenth century that there was such a thing as German 
literature, in the modern sense of the term ; and it was well- 
nigh a century later before it gained admission into the 
school curricula. The first half of the present century was so 
overshadowed by formalism in all matters educational that 
what little attention was given to German was mainly the 
study of grammar and rhetoric. It is only in the last genera- 
tion, almost in the last decade, that instruction in German 
has become respectable ; and since 1893 it has advanced to 
first place in the estimation of the government. It is the 
beginning of a new era, in which the chief aim is to reveal to 
youth the wealth of their national inheritance and, through 
its literature, to inspire them with a deeper patriotism and a 
more abiding faithfulness to the German spirit. In the Ber- 
lin Conference of December, 1890, the Emperor placed him- 
self frankly on the side of the nationalists. His declaration 
that the schools were making of their pupils young Greeks, 
young Romans, anything but young Germans, put the prob- 
lem squarely before the people from a statesman's point of 
view. The result has been a thorough revision of the curric- 
ulum for Prussian schools, and a similar change in the school 
program of most of the smaller German states. 

The new Prussian program went into effect at Easter, 
1892. It has been severely criticised in many particulars, but 
I have not learned that the course in German has met with 



230 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

serious opposition. To be sure, there are those who say that, 

granting the wisdom of the general aim, the means prescribed 

are not calculated to attain those ends ; but a 

Recent Reforms. . , , i ,i t> ^ i i ■ 

teacher who accepts the lundamental prin- 
ciples will find, I think, small excuse to complain of official 
strictures. First, the time for German is increased — in the 
Gymnasium from 21 to 26 week-hours, in the Oherrealschule 
from 30 to 34, and in the Realschule from 21 to 28 for nine 
and six years' courses respectively. No distinction in aim 
or methods is made between the classical and the non- 
classical higher schools. The new program differs from 
the old one (1) in the increased attention to the national 
literature, (2) in the demand for more practice in composition, 
and (3) in a decided restriction of the time formerly given to 
the study of grammar. 

For the lower classes, in which the boys range in age from 

nine to twelve years, the new course is as fol- 

Course of study. , "^ 

lows : 

SEXTA. 

Gyrnnasmm and Realgymnasium, 4 hours weekly; Oler- 
realscJiule, 5 hours. (1) Grammar : Parts of speech ; the 

- „ , simple sentence ; stronsr and weak declensions. 
(2) Exercise in writing from dictation once a 
week. (3) Readings : fables, legends, stories from the na- 
tional folk-lore and history. (4) Oral reproduction of stories 
told in class. (5) Recitation of poems committed to memory. 

QUINTA. 

Gymnasium and Realgymnasium^ 3 hours ; Oherrealschule, 
4 hours. (1) Grammar : The simple and compound sentence; 
elements of the complex sentence. (2) Exercise in writing 
from dictation ; punctuation. (3) Readings from the ancient 
legends and history. (4) Oral reproduction ; first attempts at 
composition. (5) Recitation of poems, etc., as in VI. 

QUARTA. 

Gymnasium and Realgymnasium, 3 hours ; Oherrealschule, 
4 hours. (1) Grammar : The complex sentence ; word-build- 



INSTRUCTION IN GERMAN 231 

ing. (2) Writing from dictation, to alternate with exercises 
written on what is heard in class ; composition every four 
weeks. (3) Readings from prose and poetry. (4) Oral repro- 
duction of what is read in class. (5) Memorizing and recita- 
tion of poems. 

An outline of the entire grammar course may be found in 
Hopf and Paulsiek's reading-books for the lower classes. In 
this bare sketch of ten pages are given typical 
examples of the parts of speech and their uses, rammar. 
the formation and development of the sentence and rules for 
punctuation. The declensions of nouns, pronouns and ad- 
jectives are illustrated by appropriate sets of endings. Six 
classes of strong verbs are distinguished according to change 
in root-vowel, and lists of each class are given ; the formation 
of the principal parts of weak verbs is noted ; a list of irregu- 
lar verbs is added, but receives no comment. Prepositions are 
grouped according to the cases which follow them. In the 
treatment of the sentence few definitions are formulated ; the 
peculiar uses of compound and complex sentences are classi- 
fied according to the usual method of Latin grammars, and 
the Latin terminology is used throughout. 

The above outline, or a similar one, I have found in use in 
several schools — but for teachers^ use only. The education 
department positively prohibits the teaching of 

XI ri -xt-x. XI How Taught. 

the German grammar as if it were the grammar 
of a foreign tongue. So far as it is necessary it must be 
taught indirectly and inductively, but it should lead up to a 
clear understanding of grammatical theory. To illustrate, I 
once visited a recitation in 8exta in which attention was 
turned indirectly to the parts of speech. From occasional 
questions of the teacher I could see that certain parts were 
already known to the class. The adverb, however, was 
new, but from the material of the lesson words were found 
which answered to the questions, liow 9 ivlien 9 where 9 These 
were written on the board and names given to the groups. 
The use of the adverb and its forms of comparison were easily 
deduced. In a subsequent lesson I saw the preposition studied 



232 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

in the same way. On inquiry I found that the class was not 
so backward as the apparent ignorance of grammatical terms 
seemed to indicate. The teacher, who also had Latin in 
Sexta, preferred to make the one study supplement the other. 
From the beginning of the course declension and conjugation 
in Latin furnish ample drill in German forms, and the treat- 
ment of the sentence makes comparison of idioms fruitful. 
To systematize in the G-erman recitations what is learned with 
the Latin costs small labour, and is the more likely to be of 
interest to the pupils because of the association. This teacher 
followed the new program to the letter, and were the results 
universally so good as in his class there could be no question 
of the wisdom of the measure. 

The parts of grammar assigned to Quinta and Quart a are 
very difficult. Young boys, even natives, are not likely to 

find the intricacies of the German com2:»lex 
^Syntax^^^ Sentence easy. They do not use subordinate 

clauses in simple conversation ; and while they 
may understand, it is quite another thing to speak the lan- 
guage idiomatically. This must be learned for the most part 
in school. What with declension for everything declinable, 
genders that know no law and a phraseology doubly com- 
pounded, the masters of the lower grades see sorry times. 
English teachers may find comfort in knowing that fate has 
not exhausted all its woes in imposing on them a wretched 
orthography. Foreigners underestimate, I am sure, the 
hindrances met with by Germans in fixing the elements of 
their language. The training in Latin clears up many diffi- 
culties for gymnasial scholars, and for this advantage the 
Realsclnilen have a partial recompense in the larger number 
of hours assigned to German. The weekly exercise in writ- 
ing from dictation is always connected with a recitation in 
the literature, and contributes to its review. In 8exta five 
or six simple sentences — usually selected to illustrate some 
grammatical principle as well — are deemed sufficient. The 
pupils' books remain with the teacher, who returns them 
with errors indicated in time for the next exercise. The 



INSTRUOTION IN GERMAN 233 

more common faults of writing and spelling are then dis- 
cussed in class. In Quinta and Quarta the same methods 
prevail. The use of the extended sentence gives rise to dif- 
ficulties of punctuation to which special attention must be 
given. 

The real basis of all the work is the literature. The Prus- 
sian program requires that the reading be in line with the 
history for the corresponding grades; in the 
schools of central Germany I have noticed a literature the 
disposition to join it with the instruction in re- 
ligion as well. Hopf and Paulsiek^s reader for 8exta (I quote 
this series because it is one of the most popular in use in 
German schools) luis seventy-two pages of legends, fables and 
tales from the national folk-lore, of which fully one-half is 
from the Grimm collection ; thirty pages contain historical 
sketches from the lives of the German emperors from Charle- 
magne to Frederick III.; and in the remaining forty-six 
pages of prose is to be found a variety of selections relating 
to animal life, nature, etc. Then follows some sixty pages 
— eighty selections — of poetry in which the historical ele- 
ment predominates. Many of the finest lyrics of the lan- 
guage are in the list. In fact, the book within its limits con- 
tains the best the language affords. The editors assume that 
the best is none too good for school use, and that boys of nine 
and t^ years can appreciate it. Such a book is not read 
from cover to cover ; for lack of time a large part must be 
excluded. Freedom of choice, therefore, is the teacher's 
privilege in the interest of his class. 

The readings for Quinta stand in close relation to the course 
in history for the same class : " Stories from the legendary 
history of the Greek and Romans." Tales from Germanic 
history of a corresponding era naturally find an important 
place. The same line is followed in Quarta, save that the 
legendary makes way for the historical. 

The striking peculiarity of the instruction in the lower 
grades is the great emphasis put upon oral work. Eeading- 
books are little used in Sexta; the teacher tells the story, after 



234 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

which the main points as they occur to the pupils are written 
on the board. This is a chance for skilful questioning, and 
it tests directly the pupils' attentiveness. The 
story is then reproduced orally by several pupils 
in turn ; correctness of expression and completeness of detail 
are especially considered. The reading-books, if used at 
all, are brought out after the oral exercise, that the selection 
may be read aloud. Such comparison as naturally arises be- 
tween the forms of expression used by the pupils and those 
of the author makes the work interesting and profitable. 
Often, however, the entire exercise is oral. I recall having 
once heard stories of the adventures of Ulysses related in 
order during an entire hour, the only advance being the ac- 
count of the shipwreck and the landing on Calypso's isle. No 
text-book had been used during the semester ; the only record 
was the outlines put on the board from day to day, which the 
boys copied into note-books. Frequent reviews kept the con- 
nection fresh in mind. Through Qtmita the reader becomes 
gradually more used, till in Quarta the pupils read the ad- 
vance lessons at sight. A thorough understanding of the 
piece must result from the written analysis and the oral re- 
production which follows. 

No writing, except from dictation, is expected in Sexta. 
During the first semester in Quvnta the reproduction of the 
. . lesson is frequently in writing ; in the second 

half-year the pupil occasionally writes his ac- 
count at home. In Quarta he is asked for the first time to 
use his own words in the oral and written class exercise. 
Heretofore the aim has been to reproduce the exact form of 
his model. Theoretically, the memory is foremost up to the 
twelfth year. In a lower school I have heard an hour wasted 
— as it then seemed to me — in the endeavour to have repro- 
duced exactly a dozen sentences related by the teacher de- 
scriptive of the Luther-room in the Wartburg. A picture of 
the room hung before the class, but notwithstanding the 
frantic efforts of the teacher not more than two or three of 
his pupils succeeded in the task. The boys took no interest 



INSTRUOTION IN OEUMAN 235 

in the exercise, and failure was inevitable. The method, 
however, may be most successful, as I have since observed, 
in the hands of a good teacher ; but I also note two conditions 
essential to success : (1) an interesting story ; (2) reasonable 
freedom to the pupil in relating it. 

The Germans recognize that the surest way of creating in 
a boy a love for good literature is to let him read it for him- 
self. Desultory reading is time wasted ; only 
in so far as the reader makes what is read a emonzmg. 
part of himself is it of value to him. The memorizing of 
choice selections, therefore, is an important feature of the 
entire course. From three hundred to five hundred lines 
are usually required in each of the lower classes. It is un- 
necessary to enumerate the selections ; suffice it to say that 
the gems of the language are found therein. 

The program for the middle classes is as follows : 

UNTERTERTIA. 

Oymnasmm, 2 hours ; Realgy^miasium and Oherrealsclmle, 
3 hours. (1) Grammar : Comprehensive review of the most 
important rules peculiar to the German. (2) 
Composition to be written out of school once a n,.^?,"^^^ ^? 

fi /o\ T> J • J? 1 i. Middle Grades. 

montli. {6) Keadmgs irom prose and poetry. 
(4) Study of poetic forms, so far as necessary, in explanation 
of what is read. (5) Memorizing and recitation of poems as 
in lower grades. 

OBERTERTIA. 

Gymnasiitm, 2 hours ; Bealgymnasium and Olerrealscliule, 
3 hours. (1) Composition as in III^, to which is added re- 
ports on personal experiences in letter form. (2) Keadings : 
lyric and dramatic poetry ; some prose. (3) Rhetoric and 
prosody treated inductively. (4) Recitation of memorized 
poems and of selections from the dramas. 

UKTERSECUNDA. 

Oymnasium, Realgymnasium and Oherrecdschule, 3 hours. 

(1) Instruction in essay writing through practice in selecting 
the material and arranging it in class ; critical essay monthly. 

(2) Readings : Jungfrau vo7i Orleans (in schools without 



236 GERMAN HIOHER SCHOOLS 

Greek, Wilhelm Tell), Mmna von BarnJielm, Hermann und 
Dorothea. (3) Memorizing of selections from the dramas ; 
first attempts in recitation of pupils' own productions. 

The study of grammar is completed with the review pre- 
scribed for Untertertia. Custom varies widely, but my ob- 
servation is that most teachers accomplish this 
review indirectly in connection with the read- 
ing. The study of syntax, together with continued practice 
in word-building (begun in Qiuirta) and in the use of syno- 
nyms, makes a good introduction to the later study of the 
science of the language. 

The formal composition, which now appears in the pro- 
gram for the first time, is mainly descriptive ; but trans- 
lations from Latin or French are often accepted 
as equivalent. Such written work as obtains in 
the lower classes aims at exact imitation of what is heard or 
read ; in Untertertia the pupils are expected to abstract from 
a more extended reading the important facts and relate them 
within smaller compass in their own words. The exercise 
is similar to what in American schools is sometimes called 
'^ paraphrasing." It has especial value in the study of poe- 
try, both as an exercise in composition and in the elucidation 
of the text. The almost daily practice in oral and written 
reproduction of what is read in class prepares the way nat- 
urally for the more formal monthly composition. Besides 
these formal exercises in composition, each instructor assigns 
once a quarter-year a special task in his own subject to be 
written up in class. This work serves the dual purpose of an 
examination in subject-matter and in writing German. 

It is quite impossible to give here a comprehensive review 
of the development of the German methods of teaching com- 
position. The subject is so interwoven with the 
development of the entire curriculum, and has 
passed through so many changes incident to the progressive 
educational ideas of the country, that it may not be explained 
apart from its wider environment. Composition in some form 



INSTRUCTION IN GERMAN 237 

has always held a prominent place in linguistic instruction ; 
it is not so long ago that the writing of Greek and Latin was 
the highest test of scholarship in Germany ; and, in fact, it is 
only since the promulgation of the new Prussian curriculum 
that the Latin and Greek essays have retired to a subordinate 
place. In proportion as less stress has been put upon compo- 
sition in foreign tongues has the German essay advanced to 
a front rank. But a lingering prejudice among the older 
masters does not hasten the modern reforms. If anything 
were ever damned by faint praise, it is the German essay in 
the hands of some of these erudite classicists. The younger 
teachers are not so ; their minds are not fixed by long years 
in a single class-room, and the spirit of the new program 
finds its fullest and heartiest expression in their w^ork. 

The ^' practical teaching of essay writing '' prescribed for 
Ujitersecunda is too often, I fear, a mockery. The theories 
of ancient rhetoricians, as cut-and-dried by tra- 
dition in Germany, are not conducive to the -J^ealwngit. 
highest results, especially with men who write 
almost any language better than their own. But I have seen 
most excellent results in the upper classes, and there is no 
reason why it should not be the rule. The preparation af- 
forded in the lower grades is certainly of a high order, and 
if properly continued should produce telling effects. The 
main difficulty is that inasmuch as only eight or nine essays 
are prescribed for the year, the practice in writing will be left 
to these supreme occasions. Those who are really in sympa- 
thy with the new reform insist on a little writing every day, 
and so arrange this practice work that when the time comes 
for the formal essay the student already has his ideas well 
fixed, and knows almost to a certainty what form the expres- 
sion should take. In other words, the theory is that it is in- 
finitely better to avoid errors by previous careful training than 
to correct them after they are made. To this end the '* prac- 
tical instruction " above mentioned is no more nor less than 
almost daily drill in arranging logically a train of ideas with 
which the students are already familiar. It is in this con- 



238 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

nection that translations from the foreign languages may be 
made most valuable ; here the ideas are given, and in logical 
order, according to the spirit of the original. The test is to 
express the same ideas and arrange them according to the 
recognised laws of the mother-tongue. 

The history course for Untertertia traces the political 
changes in western Europe from the death of Augustus to 
the end of the Middle Ages ; so far as possible, 
the readings for the year are intended to illus- 
trate this period. The Scandinavian tales and the old Ger- 
manic legends of the Nibelungenlied are prominent ; epic 
poetry and ballads receive particular stress. From Tertia on, 
dramatic poetry becomes foremost in the course. So, too, the 
reading of entire works in place of selections becomes more 
and more characteristic of the higher classes. Schiller^s 
Gloche and Wilhelm Tell are commonly read in Ohertertia ; 
but in schools without Greek, translations from Homer may 
take the place of Tell. The list of poems — according to 
Hopf and Paulsiek — to be committed to memory includes 
Die Kraniche des IhyJciis, Der Ring des Polykrates, Der 
HandscMih and Die Glocke, by Schiller, Der Erlhmig, by 
Goethe, and seven other selections — in all, about 1,200 lines 
during the year. These selections are not, of course, officially 
required, and it will seldom happen that this precise list will 
be memorized. Custom decrees, however, that at least six or 
eight such poems shall be made the pupils' own. 

It must not be forgotten that young men who complete 
Untersecunda in a higher school are privileged to serve only 
one year in the army. In 1889-1890, 8,051 Prussian students 
left school after winning the coveted military boon ; only 
4,105 finished the entire nine years' course. For German 
schools, therefore, it is highly important that something like 
completeness should be attained in the course, exclusive of the 
last three years. That this is attempted is evident in the 
abrupt change in the character of the work after Secunda is 
passed. But under the most favourable interpretation it must 
be said that the Prussian schools are designed for the four 



INSTRUCTION IN GERMAN 239 

thousand wlio complete the course, instead of the eight thou- 
sand who find it convenient or necessary to drop out three 
years before the end. 

The arrangement of the course in the upper classes is as 
follows : 

OBERSECUNDA. 

Gyninasiimi and Realgymnasiwn, 3 hours ; Oherrealschule, 
4 hours. (1) Composition at home and in class ; shorter es- 
says on topics drawn from the general instruc- 
tion ; about eight essays in the school year. ^^'^GraJe^^^^'" 
(2) Introduction to the Nihehmgenlied in the 
original text ; the courtly epic and lyric. (3) General review 
of styles of poetry. (4) Reading of dramas : WaUe7istein, 
Egmont, Goetz. (5) Occasional committing to memory of 
selections from the reading ; original discourses by the stu- 
dents upon the contents of the more significant poems of the 
middle-high German and of modern dramas. 

UNTERPRIMA. 

Gyinnasium and Eealgymnasium, 3 hours ; Oberrealschuley 
4 hours. (1) Composition as in Ila. (2) History of the 
literature of the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth cen- 
turies, treated biographically. (3) Readings : Selections from 
Lessing's Laokoon, etc. ; a few odes of Klopstock ; lyrics of 
Schiller and Goethe ; dramas — IjjJiige^iie, Braut von Messina 
(in schools without Greek, Sophocles' dramas iu translation) ; 
selections from the later poets. (4) Discussions by the students 
on the lives and works of the poets. 

OBERPRIMA. 

Gyynnasinm and Realgymnasium, 3 hours ; Oherrealscjiule, 
4 hours. (1) Composition as in 11a and I^. (2) History 
of the literature from Goethe to the present time in biograph- 
ical form. (3) Readings from the Hamlurgisclie Drama- 
turgie ; dramas, especially Shakespeare's, in translation (in 
Gymnasien). (4) Original discourses by the students on the 
lives and works of the poets. 

The dangers incident to the composition work in the 
middle grades are likely to increase in the higher classes, but 
it is not my purpose to write on the shortcomings of Individ- 



240 QEUMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

ual teachers. I accept without question the Prussian pro- 
gram as it stands. But there is a real danger, as confessed to 
me more than once, even for the ablest teach- 
ers, that they will make the composition too 
much an exercise in literary criticism. The more enthusi- 
astic the instructor is, the more familiar he is with the deeper 
significance of the literature, the more likely is he to overes- 
timate the mental calibre of his class. 

A teacher of many years^ experience in the schools of 
Cassel recently placed in my hands some half-dozen volumes 
devoted to critical exposition of the readings, with full out- 
lines of essays for the upper grades of higher schools. I have 
met with many such books for teachers' use, which give 
hundreds, if not thousands, of composition themes, with ap- 
propriate outlines. The mass of material is really bewilder- 
ing, and, were not the national passion for book-making 
generally understood, one might infer that the average Ger- 
man teacher has no ideas of his own. But such helps may 
be used advantageously by earnest teachers, and it is to be 
hoped that one day in America there will be a choice of as 
rich material. 

As an indication of the trend in essay writing I give 
herewith two lists of themes actually used in 

Essay Themes. ^ . 

Frima : 

Unterjyrima, Jena Gymnasiiim, 1893-1894 : 
(1) What were Hagen's motives in murdering Siegfried ? 
(2) Brunhilde as portrayed by Geibel and in the Nibelungen 
legends : a comparison. (3) Ejsplain and justify Schiller's 
distich : 

"Euch, Ihr Gotter, gehoret der Kaiifmann : 
Outer zu suchen, 
Geht er, dooh an sein Scliiff kniipfet das Gute sich an" (class essay). 

(4) Would not Shakespeare's Julius Ccesar have been bet- 
ter entitled B7'uU(S 9 (5) The virtues and vices of the Ger- 
mans, according to Tacitus' Germania. (6) What share had 
the Prince in Lessing's Emilia Galotti in Marinelli's deed ? 
Oher prima, Wilhelms-Gymnasinm, Cassel, 1892-1893 : 
(1) In how far is the second Punic war a decisive turning- 



INSTRUCTION IN GERMAN 241 

point in Roman history ? (2) The development of the dra- 
matic action in the third act of Shakespeare's Coriolauus. 
(3) (a) Causes and significance of the revolt of the Nether- 
lands ; (b) The consequences of the discovery of America 
(class essay). (4) Epaminondas and Gustavus Adolphus : a 
comparison. (5) The historical importance of the Great 
Elector of Brandenburg. (6) The historical significance of 
Greece, Eome and Palestine, with particular relation to Ger- 
many. (Eleven other essays were written during the year, of 
which nine were composed in class.) 

The reading of entire works finds its fullest scope in the 
upper classes. In proportion as the mechanical use of the 
lansruaofe becomes familiar is the reader enabled 

.-■ .1 ,,Pi,i 1 Literature. 

to consider more the content of what he reads. 
At first the form is all-important, and in a measure the form 
conditions the idea ; but with time the highest art of expres- 
sion becomes subservient to the intellectual content. In the 
writings of Schiller and Lessing, Goethe and Shakespeare, 
the German school-boy has a wealth of material unsurpassed 
in variety of treatment and in richness of meaning. And 
when we consider his readings from the ancient and modern 
classics, his studies in the history of Greece and Eome and of 
the fatherland, it will be noted with what a liberal training 
he approaches the study of master-pieces of his own literature. 
But is Shakespeare German? The answer must be that if 
sympathetic renderings on every stage, if a general and appre- 
ciative reading in the schools and in the home, 

,. , 1 XT • oi 1 Shakespeare. 

can naturalize a man s work, tlieii is bhake- 
speare German. A German teacher of English recently told 
me of his experiences of a vacation in England. He wanted 
especially to hear Shakespeare played in English by English 
actors. And his experience ? Not once during the summer 
did he have the chance. Light comedy he could hear every 
night, and silly operas. This is not true even of small towns 
in Germany. And I know that during the few months I spent 
in Jena more of Shakespeare's plays were given in that quiet 
Thuringian town of 13,000 inhabitants than have been played 
in most American towns of the same size in as many years. 

16 



242 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

In Germany the theatre supplements the school ; once a year 
all the gymnasial students of Saxe- Weimar are invited to a 
classic drama in the Court Theatre. Other states have simi- 
lar customs, and everywhere students may attend the best 
plays and hear the finest music at greatly reduced rates. In 
some of the larger cities special arrangements are made where- 
by secondary-school pupils may hear the best dramas for about 
twenty pfennigs— ^/?ye cents — each. No school-boy will be ad- 
mitted without the permission of the director of his school. 
Under such conditions the teacher of literature is indeed fos- 
silized who cannot inspire his scholars with a loftier patriotic 
and moral ideal. 

The readings for the lower and middle grades have no regard 

for the historical development of the language or the growth 

„. ^ „ of the literature. Scientific methods are first 

History of 

Language aud employed with ObersecuMla. A short intro- 
Literature. cluctiou sliows the placc of German in the Indo- 
European family, after which the peculiarities of the middle- 
high German are learned inductively from the Nihelungenlied 
in the original text. Many selections from the early writings 
are read, and care is taken to classify them historically. In 
Unterprima the development of the new-high German is 
traced in the literature from Luther to the end of the eigh- 
teenth century. The historical study of the literature de- 
pends not upon names, dates and titles, but upon the relation 
of influences to results. Shakespeare finds a place in the cur- 
riculum primarily because of his influence upon a later school 
of German writers. In Oberprima a jcritical study of Schiller 
and Goethe rounds out the course to perfection. It has been 
my pleasure to hear a series of lessons in this class on Goethe's 
Ipliigenie auf Tauris, conducted by a live teacher of a live 
Gymnasium. Under his skilful leading I could feel the in- 
terest of the class increasing daily, till the height was reached 
in Iphigenie's monologue in the fif tli scene of the fourth act. 
The pent-up emotion of all that had preceded found expres- 
sion here. No member of that class was unresponsive, I am 
certain, to those agonizing words which mark the climax ; 



INSTRUCTION IN GERMAN 243 

^' Rettet mich, Unci rettet euer Bilcl in meiner 8eele." And at 
the next lesson I was gratified to hear the monologue — sev- 
enty-six lines — repeated from memory with scarcely an error. 
After such exhibitions I needed not be told that for gymnasial 
students the Ipliigenie stands without rival in the literature. 

The German course, as I have tried to show, is designed as 
a unit from first to last. It recognises two principal means 
of teachiner langua<]re : (1) throue'h the ear, and 

o o o \ / o ^ ^ rjij^g Course a Unit. 

(2) through the eye ; first hearing with speak- 
ing, and then seeing with reading and writing. If at some 
time in the course one method is emphasized more than the 
other, at no time must one exclude the other. ^^ It is fortu- 
nate that so much stress is coming to be put on the spoken 
language in our schools, ^^ said a university professor to me 
once ; " we are naturally a race of readers and writers, and 
are prone to forget that language may be something apart 
from books. ^^ And ^^ reading^" is not skimming over printed 
pages for the sake of the story. The reader, if he would mas- 
ter what he reads, must read not once, but many times ; must 
ponder well the contents ; and no harm is done if he commit a 
goodly part to memory. But I repeat again : the course is a 
unit. There are no tests in ''grammar,'' or ''spelling" or 
" rhetoric ; '' no division into "elementary " and " advanced " 
German ; no chapters on "prefixes, suffixes and stems;" no 
course in "literature," national or otherwise. But there is 
most emphatically a course in German. 

This is the German point of view. And, if I mistake not, 
it is the ideal toward which American educators have been 
tending for many years. Such a course reads 
well on paper, and theoretically meets with gen- 
eral approval. The practical workings, however, do not fur- 
nish grounds for unmixed praise. The imjDortant factor in 
this, as in all school problems, is the teacher ; if he is all 
knowledge, all skill, all tact, all perfection, the highest re- 
sults may be reached. But he is not to be found in every 
German school, and I am yet to be convinced that his species 
is more common there than in America, He is a rare man 



244: GERMAN HIOHER SCHOOLS 

who can be tit once a specialist and a snccessful all-ronnd 
teacher, according to these later-day notions. Indeed, the first 
requirement of the aspirant for tutorial honours in the mother- 
tongue is not that he shall be a specialist, but a form-master. 
The Berlin conference recognized this fact, and gave it the 
prominence it deserves. But, with all deference to the supe- 
rior learning and skill of German school-masters, I am of the 
opinion that the conditions of highest success in teaching the 
mother-tongue will be met quite as readily on American soil 
as in the fatherland. American teachers are to-day perhaps 
no nearer beiug form-masters than are German teachers, but 
a generation at least of gymnasial specialists must pass away 
before the spirit of the new program will find expression in 
true heart service. 

The key of the situation is admirably put in the closing 
paragraph of the official instructions accompanying the Prus- 
sian syllabus : ^*^The instruction in German, joined with that 
in religion and history, is ethically the most important in the 
organism of our schools. Its tasks are extraordinarily difficult, 
and can be fully discharged only by that teacher who — sup- 
ported by a thorough understanding of our language and its 
history, upheld by an enthusiasm for the treasures of our lit- 
erature and dominated by a deep sense of patriotism — knows 
how to enkindle the susceptible hearts of our youth Avitli a 
passion for the German language, the German life and the 
German spirit.'" 

General References :— Hiecke, Der deutsche Unterricht auf deutschen 
Gymnasien^ Berlin, 1852 ; Laas, Der deutsche Avfsatz in der oheren Gym- 
nasialklassen^ Berlin, 1877 ; Laas, Der deutsche Unterricht auf den hb- 
heren Lehranstalten^ Berlin, 1872 ; Hildebrand, Der deutsche Sprachun- 
tei'richt in der Schule^ Leipsic, 1887 ; Miiller, Quelleyischriften des 
deutschsprachlichen Unterrichts^ Gotha, 18S2 ; Kern, Zur, Methodik des 
deutschen Unierrichts^ 1883; Volcker, Aufgaben des zu verstdrkenden 
deutschen IJyiterrichts^ Schdnebeck, 1892 ; Nagel, Der deutsche Unterricht 
in den unteren Klassen der hoh. Biirgerschulen^ Berlin, 1892; Schmidt, 
Der deutsche Unter^'icht in der Obersecunda^ Borna, 1892 ; Miiller, Der 
deutsche Unterricht auf Eealschulen, Eni.den, 1892; Hand-Books of Bau- 
meister and Wychgram ; Encyclopedias of Schmid and Rein. 



CHAPTER XIII 

INSTRUCTION IN GREEK AND LATIN 

" The classical literature is, and will continue to be, the 
source of all our culture. It must remain, therefore, not 
only an indispensable, but by far the most im- ^^^^^.^ ^^ 
portant, study in our higher schools." This Gymnasiai 
thought, expressed a century ago by Frederick Trammg. 
Gedike, the first Ohersclmlrat of Prussia, has been the guid- 
ing principle of the Gymnasien to the present time. Through 
Winckelmann, Lessing, Herder, Goethe and Schiller the 
German mind was made ready for humanistic training. The 
ideals of the new humanism were embodied by Frederick 
August Wolf in his Science of Arcliceology — a science which 
included not only the classical languages and literatures, but 
all that was concerned in the civilizations of Greece and Rome. 
Its highest aim was ^' the knowledge of the classical humanity 
itself." In "Wolfs Seminar in Halle the men were trained 
^' who, in the higher schools, universities and educational 
councils of a great part of Germany and of Switzerland, ex- 
erted an unparalleled influence upon the subsequent develop- 
ment of the higher culture." 

The influence of Wolf and his school, powerful as it was, 
was insufficient to preserve the spirit of the new movement 
from violence at the hands of those who were 
determined to nationalize the school system, and ^^option^!^^^ 
make a knowledge of Greek and Latin the con- 
dition of admission to the learned professions and to all posi- 
tions of honour in the civil service. That classical study 
should serve other ends than those of pure culture was a 

245 



24:6 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

proposition abhorrent to the new humanists. Gesner, the 
founder of the movement at Gottingen, considered Latin and 
Greek quite unnecessary for the ordinary trades and profes- 
sions and for civil and military service. Gedike based his 
hopes of true educational reform on the conversion of all so- 
called Latin schools in the smaller cities into genuine Beal- 
schulen, and the reception into the Gyinnasien only of such 
pupils as were destined to become learned men. Even Wolf 
held that the classics were valuable only to the learned ; Latin 
should not be required of candidates in medicine, and Greek 
should be obligatory only for gymnasial teachers and students 
of theology. 

The place of the ancient languages in the curriculum of 
the German schools during the greater part of this century 
has been determined by the shifting of opin- 
'^^^study.'''''^^ ions between these two extremes— between that 
view which makes the study of the classics 
purely a formal discipline, and that other view which bases 
the worth of such study on the acquisition of humanistic 
culture, on contact with ^' the best thoughts of the best men 
of antiquity." In the one case it is considered of equal value 
as a means of preparation for all trades and professions depen- 
dent on intellectual acumen ; in the other case it is of worth 
only for those who can practically apply the technical knowl- 
edge thereby acquired, or who may have sufficient leisure to 
enjoy its aesthetic qualities. It is a question of making the 
ancient literature a means to an end or an end in itself. 

With the introduction of the state system of education the 
courses of study of all schools fitting for the universities be- 
came practically uniform. The reforms were 
^^crtury.*^'' carried out by men friendly to the humanistic 
party, but they encountered strong opposition. 
Not only were a majority of the classical teachers unable or 
unwilling to follow the new ideals, but a considerable party 
in the state was barbarous enough to think that what the na- 
tion most needed was an education capable of producing more 
patriotic citizens. The Napoleonic wars were a rude shock to 



INSTRUCTION IN GREEK AND LATIN 247 

Goetlie's universal Rumanitdtsideal, and gave decided im- 
petus to all reactionary influence. The gymnasial program 
of 1816 put much emphasis on mathematics to 
the disadvantage of Latin^, which was reduced ^ ^^ ° 
to 76 week-hours in a ten years' course, and made Greek 
obligatory with 50 week-hours. After the entrance of Jo- 
hannes Schulze into the Education Department in 1818, 
Latin was again gradually advanced to first place. A plan 
of supplementary reading followed in the Gymnasium of 
Dantzic was officially recommended to all directors, the time 
of mathematics being soon afterward reduced a half in order 
to make it possible. In this way the schools were able to 
read the following works : '' The entire Iliad and Odyssey, 
several dramas of ^schylus, Sophocles and Euripides, four 
books of Herodotus, two books of Thucydides, the Anabasis, 
several of Plutarch's Lives, Demosthenes' Oration on the 
Grown, Plato's Phcedo, all of Vergil except the Georgics, 
Horace complete, Ovid's MetamorpJioses complete and selec- 
tions from other poets, Caesar's Gallic War and Civil War 
complete, five or six books of Livy, all of Sallust, Tacitus' 
Annals, many of Cicero's Orations and de amicitia, de senec- 
tute, de officiis, de divinatione and de natura deorum." The 
speaking of Latin, which was in common use in the schools 
at the beginning of the century, gradually fell into disuse. 
In 1834, however, it was ordered that the final examination 
in Latin should be conducted in Latin. 

In response to a popular demand that the gymnasial re- 
quirements should be reduced, a new program was announced 
in 1837, according to which the seven lower 
classes had each 10 hours of Latin a week and 
the two upper classes 8 each — total, 86 week -hours. Greek 
was taught during seven years 6 hours a week. Pupils were 
not admitted to the Gymnasien until ten years of age. The 
prescribed number of weekly lessons — in all, 32 — was under 
no condition to be increased, and compulsory private reading 
was abolished. The program of 1856 emphasized still more 
strongly the formal side of classical training. Four to six 



248 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

Latin essays were required each semester. Greek prose com- 
position was included in the final examination. The oral test 
in both Greek and Latin was to be conducted in Latin. Ger- 
man literature^, French, natural science and philosophy were 
omitted entirely from the final examination. Until the found- 
ing of the German Empire Latin was the main part of the 
gymnasial course ; everything was subsidiary to the classics. 
The aim was to afford a formal training without any regard 
whatsoever to the pupil's future position in life. A thorough 
knowledge of Latin, ability to read, write and speak it with 
ease, was the one thing necessary. 

In the 70's forces which had long been dormant or held 
in check began to be felt. The needs of a great nation 

made new demands on the educational system. 

Baden and Hesse were the first to respond by 
giving more time to science, mathematics, German and 
French, at the expense of the classics. The literature was 
made the central point of the work in Greek and Latin. The 
Prussian program of 1882 reduced the week-hours of Latin 
from 86 to 77, and postponed the beginning of Greek to 
Untertertia with a total of 40 week-hours. The literature 
was mildly emphasized, but much stress was still put upon 
the writing of correct Latin. The formal educational value 
of Latin was specially recognised in the transformation of 
certain i?^«?-schools into Eealgp)inasten, i.e., Gyinnasieii 
without Greek. During the succeeding decade two important 
tendencies became more strongly developed : (1) the modern 
side of education was evidently growing in public favour, 
stimulated by rapidly increasing industrial needs ; and (2) in 
the reaction against formalism in the teaching of the classics, 
the revival of new humanistic ideals was becoming more ap- 
parent. The reforms of 1892 were, indeed, radical. Emphasis 

was placed upon the need of a national education 

Lehrplanofl892. . ^ , • , |. -,.,. • i -, . -i ., 

m practical Imes, as distinguished irom the the- 
oretical training of the mental faculties. A patriotic citi- 
zenship became the chief end of all school work. Vigour of 
mind and right conduct are conditioned by health of body ; 



INSTRUCTION IN GREEK AND LATIN 249 

physical exercise, therefore, was encouraged, and all undue 
pressure in school work prohibited. The national history and 
literature were given a prominent place ; classics were set back. 
Prussia reduced the week-hours in Latin from 77 to 62, and in 
Greek from 40 to 36. Bavaria placed Latin at 66, and Greek 
at 36. Both Saxony and AYiirtemberg made reductions, but the 
hours still remain much above the average, viz. : Saxony, Latin 
71-73, and Greek 40-42 ; Wiirtemberg, Latin 81, and Greek 
40 (classes IL-X.). The most significant general change was 
in the emphasis put upon the literature and its humanistic 
content. Formal drill in grammar and the Latin essay were 
abolished. " Take warning ! " says an opponent of the re- 
forms, ^^ nothing but financial considerations keeps the schools 
from having veritable museums of classic art. They would 
apparently make the literature a basis for applied archaeology 
and the essential subject in a course in art history.^' 

The trend of the opposition to the formal educational value 
of classical study was clearly manifest, too, in the attempted 
overthrow of the Realgymjiasieu — an abortive 
attempt, to be sure, but nevertheless indicative j^^^f^^ nasium 
of the reaction against formalism and of the 
increasing importance of practical education. While Latin 
is still retained in the Prussian Realgynmasium, its efficiency 
is endangered by the manifest hostility of the government. 
Students no longer feel that Latin is of supreme importance 
in the final examination, and numerous petty official acts 
show all too clearly that the authorities do not consider the 
Latin instruction in the Realgymnasmm of much account. 
In fact, one can find very little spirited Latin work in these 
schools. The attitude of the government may be largely re- 
sponsible for tlie results, yet there is another not unimpor- 
tant reason. The teachers of Latin in these schools are, as a 
rule, elderly men. They belong to a generation which looked 
upon the study of the classics purely as a formal discipline ; 
and notwithstanding the fact that they find themselves in a 
modern environment, it is with great difficulty that they adjust 
themselves to the practical needs of the Realgymnasien, Fur- 



250 GERMAN EIOHBR SCHOOLS 

tliermore, one often hears it said that the less promising 
candidates for teachers^ positions are " steered " into the Real- 
gyynnasien. At any rate, an influential Gymnasium not infre- 
quently finds a means of having an undesirable member of its 
staff transferred to some less favoured school. The relatively 
large number of ReaJgymnasial teachers who once held posts 
in Qymnasien suggests that the Realgymnasmm is the chief 
sufferer. 

Were it not for the far-reaching system of privileges con- 
nected with graduation from classical schools, Latin would 
speedily disappear, no doubt, from the Real- 
'^mSooiI^'' ^yw^w«5^e?^. But as long as admission to higher 
courses in the university and appointment to 
the better places in the civil service are conditioned by the 
study of Latin, so long will the ambitious spirit of the Ger- 
man middle classes insist on the retention of the Realgymna- 
sm?)i at any cost. And, besides, there are such men as Pro- 
fessor Paulsen, of Berlin, who maintains that a knowledge of 
the Latin language is an essential element in a practical ed- 
ucation — that the man, as Schopenhauer says, who knows not 
the influences of Eome on our modern civilization is like a 
traveller in a beautiful country enveloped in a dense fog. 
Merely as an information subject, therefore, Latin deserves a 
place in every school that leads to the university and to the 
higher positions in the state. 

What the outcome will be of all this discussion cannot be 
predicted. This much at least seems assured, that the mid- 
dle classes will insist on a fair representation in the govern- 
ment and in the civil and military service. If Latin is a C07i- 
ditio sine qua non, then Latin will be kept in the higher 
schools ; if the training of the Oherrealscliulen is considered 
sufficient for all purposes, save for entrance upon certain lines 
of professional study, then we may expect the gradual extinc- 
tion of the Realgymnasien. In short, it would seem that the 
future of classical study were more dependent upon social 
ideals and economic conditions than has hitherto been the 
case. It is not in accord with German imperialism to con-. 



INSTRUCTION IN GREEK AND LATIN 251 

cede much to the demands of the industrial classes, but the 
time is not far distant when certain new and rapidly increas- 
ing forces in the German social life must be recognised. And 
when that time comes it will bring with it greater reforms in 
the school system than we have yet seen. 

A significant movement looking to a compromise between 
the factions warring over the place of classical study in liberal 
education is that for the Reformscliule. One 
of the severest charges brought against the old ueformschuie 
Gymnasien is that parents must practically de- 
cide the future career of their sons when first they are sent to 
school. What father knows the bent of his son at nine years 
of age ? How can he intelligently mark out a course of study 
before he knows anything of the boy's aptitude in studies ? 
Not long since I heard a prominent physician of Leipsic enter 
a most emphatic protest to an assembly of teachers against 
the responsibility placed on him in the selection of a course 
of study for his nine-year-old boy. " I have carefully studied 
the child/' said the father, " since his birth, but I feel that I 
am in no position to decide the matter. The boy himself is 
uncertain whether he wishes to become a street-car conductor 
or a general in the army.'' The gymnasial pupil at fifteen is 
debarred from choosing a technical profession ; the Real- 
school boy at fifteen finds it a thorny road that leads to the 
university. There are, indeed, a few notable exceptions to the 
rule, but the obstacles which the few succeed in overcoming 
suffice to dissuade the many from the attempt. 

For several years Director Schlee, of Altona, has had royal 
permission to begin the course in his Realgymnasium with 
French instead of Latin, and later on to give to ^^ Aitona 
Latin some of the time that would ordinarily 
go to French. In this way the curriculum for the first three 
years is made to accord with that of the Realscliule. Pupils, 
therefore, can pass easily from one school to the other so late 
as Untertertia. At fifteen years of age a pupil would have 
no greater difficulty in making a change than at twelve under 
the old plan. The success of the Altona experiment was so 



252 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

marked that at Easter, 1892, the plan, in a slightly modified 

form, was iutroduced into all the higher schools of Frankfort- 

, „ , , on-the-Main. Latin is be^un in the Gymna- 

In Frankfort. . • ^ ^ -, 

siiim m Untertertia with ten hours a week. The 
total Aveek-hours for the six years' course amount to fifty-two. 
Greek is begun two years later with eight hours a week — an 
allotment that is maintained during the four years. In the 
Realgymnasmm English takes the place of Greek. In other 
respects there is no great divergence from the governmental 
program. 

The Frankfort plan is vigorously championed by a party 
of reformers not only for its practical advantages, but for ped- 
agogical reasons as well. They claim that the 
crnsidSnftions. ^^^^^ rational method of teacliing language to 
children of nine and ten years of age is the in- 
ductive, all the time using the language so far as possible as 
if it were the mother-tongue. Habits of speech, rather than 
thought and judgment, should be the chief aim at first. 
Latin was once so taught because Latin was then a popular 
tongue. Times have changed, and it is now little short of 
farcical to insist on treating Latin as a spoken language. 
Still, it is recognised that a humanistic training is desirable. 
Some language should be begun when a child enters school. It 
should be a living language. French, therefore, satisfies the 
theoretical conditions, and besides has a practical value that 
commends it to the German people. The training in French 
during the first three years of schooling should lay such a 
foundation, should cultivate such linguistic sensibility, that 
better work can be done in Latin in the succeeding six years 
than has formerly been possible in the full nine years' course. ^ 
Here, then, there is an attempt at sailing a middle course 
between the old order and the new. If it succeeds, it will be 
proclaimed a rational solution of a difficult problem. Whether, 
as a compromise — for that is really what it is — it will please 
either party, will depend largely upon the outcome of the 

^ See : Reinhardt, Die Schulordnvng in Comenius Unterrichtslehre mid 
die Frankfurter Lehrpldne^ Leipsie, 1894. 



INSTRUCTION IN GREEK AND LATIN 253 

more radical plans uow being urged. If the Frankfort plan 
fails, it is safe to say that the fault will not lie with Director 
Reinhardt and his associates, who have entered 
upon the work with unbounded faith in its ^.'^''^f^^^^^ 

^ Significance. 

possibilities, and who are eminently qualified 
in every way to realize its highest ideals. The experiment 
in Frankfort will be watched with increasing interest for 
three years to come. In 1901 the first class to make the 
trial will be graduated ; the attainments of this class will have 
an important influence in shaping the future curriculum for 
the German higher schools. 

The present, it is apparent, is a period of transition in the 
instruction in Greek and Latin. Uncertainty and confusion 
are to be found in most schools ; and not a few ^^^ Present a 
teachers openly assert their disdain of the new Period of 
order, and express a determination to cling to Transition, 
their old methods till the curriculum shall again be revised. 
Uniformity in method or in scope of work cannot be expected 
until time shall remove or harmonize the multiplicity of dis- 
turbing elements. 

The official syllabus allows considerable freedom of choice 
in the matter of text-books and subject-matter. For this 
reason one rarely finds precisely the same work being done at 
a given time even in the schools of the same city. Then, too, 
there is a variation from year to year in the selections from 
the literature, in order to avoid repetition for pupils set back. 
The plan gives zest to the teacher's work as well. 

In giving the course of study for a particular school, it 
should be borne in mind that it can at best be only a tyi">e. 
No other school may be doing precisely the 

•^ ^ ^ ^ Course of study. 

same work ; the dinerences, however, are of 
minor consequence. For purposes of illustration, I present 
lierewith an outline of the work in 1894-1895 in Latin and 
Greek in the Stddtisches Gymnasium, Frankfort-on-the-Main. 
This school is noted not only for the excellence of its classical 
instruction, but also for its general progressive spirit. In 
1894, when I visited the school, it had about six hundred 



254 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

pupils in nineteen classes nnder tliirty-two teachers. In real- 
ity, however, there are two schools of about three hundred 
pupils each, united in name and under one general manage- 
ment, but essentially distinct in internal arrangement and 
methods of work. The program given below is from the 
division which is following the prescribed governmental cur- 
riculum. (I have already referred to the plan adopted by 
the other division.) For the sake of comparison, I give also 
the Latin course of the Dorotlieenstddtisches Realgynmasiimi, 
Berlin. The differences in time and amount in the last six 
years correspond to the official requirements. 

GYMN"ASIUM (AND KEALGYMN^ASIUM). 

Sexta. Latin, 8 hours. Perthes' Reader for VI. and the 
corresponding vocabulary and forms. Written class exercise 
once a week. 

QuiNTA. Latin, 8 hours. Eeview of regular forms ; de- 
ponents ; common irregular forms ; memorizing of selections 
and vocabulary from Perthes' Reader for V. Study of ace. 
c. i?if. and abl. ads.; construction of city names. One written 
class exercise and one home task a week. 

QuARTA. Latin, 7 hours. Reading (4 hrs.): Nepos, 12 
vitce. Grammar, (3 hrs.): review of forms; essentials of 
case. Latin composition. Translation into Latin as class 
exercise once a week ; two written translations into German 
each half-year. ^ 

GYMNASIUM. 

Untertertia. Z«/m, 7 hours. Reading (4 hrs.): Caesar, 
Gallic War, I.-IV. Grammar (3 hrs.): Review of case ; main 
rules of mode and tense ; oral and written translations ; text- 
book, Ostermann's for III. Class exercise in writing Latin 
once a week ; written translation into German every six 
weeks. 

Untertertia. Greeh, 6 hours. Regular Attic forms up 
to and including liquid verbs. Memorizing of words ; text- 
book, Wetzel's Uebungs'bucli. Translation from Wetzel, §§ 
1-90. Written translations every two weeks. 

realgymnasium. 

Uktertertia. Z/7/?'?i, 4 hours. Reading (2 hrs.) : Caesar, 
Gallic War, I., II., III., 7-19. Grammar (2 hrs.) : Review 



INSTRUCTION IN GREEK AND LATIN 255 

of case and mode as far as learned in IV. ; further study of case. 
AYritten and oral translation from and into Latin, one exercise 
every two weeks. 

GYMNASIUM. 

Obertertia. Latin, 7 hours. Reading (4 hrs.): Selec- 
tions from Ovid^s MetamorpJioses ; Csesar, Gallic War, V. 
(from ch. 38), VI,, VII. Grammar (3 hrs.): lleview and con- 
tinuation of mode and tense ; main rules of verb-syntax ; 
text-book, GiUhausen. Oral translations from Ostermanii. 
Each week a translation into Latin based on Csesar ; every 
six weeks a written translation from Caesar. 

Obertertia. Greek, 6 hours. Grammar (3-2 hrs.) : 
Verbs in /xt and the most important irregular verbs. Review 
and extension of forms ; text-book, Bomer. Greek composi- 
tion for practice in forms ; text-book, Wetzel. Every two 
weeks a written class exercise or home task based on the read- 
ing. Reading (3-4 hrs.) : At first from Wetzel; later, Xen., 
Anad., I.-IIL, selections. Practice in retranslation and nar- 
rating contents. 

realgymnasium. 

Obertertia. Latin, 4 hours. Reading (2 hrs.) : Caesar, 
Gallic War, IV., 1-3, V., VI., 11-24 and parts of 25-51, 
VII.; Ovid, IIL, 1-137. Grammar (2 hrs.) : Review of case ; 
essentials of tense and mode. Written exercise once in two 
weeks. 

GYMNASIUM. 

Uktersecunda. X«/im, 7 hours. Reading (4 hrs.): Li vy, 
XXI. (selections) and XXII. ; Vergil, VI. Training in prep- 
aration of lesson. Practice in sight translation and retrans- 
lation. Memorizing of selections of poetry. Study of style 
and synonyms based on reading. Grammar (3 hrs.): Reviews 
and advance. Every week a translation into Latin as class 
exercise or home task ; every six weeks a written translation 
from the Latin. 

Untersecunda. Greeh, 6 hours. Review of forms. Case- 
syntax. Essentials of mode. Reading : Xen., Anab., IV., 
and Hellen., VI. and VII. (selections) ; Homer, Odyssey, V. 
and VI. Written class exercise every two weeks. 

realgymnasium. 

Untersecunda. Latin, 3 hours. Reading (2 hrs.): (Only 
one author read at a time, hence not prose and poetry to- 



256 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

gether ; one- third of the time given to poetry) Curtius, Bks. 
III., lY., VI.-VIIL; Ovid, Metamor., I., 1-4, 89-112, I., 253- 
312, IV., 663-772 (Andromeda), IV., 773-789 (Medusa), V., 
385-408, 438-445, 505-538, 564-571 (Ceres), IX., 98-153 
(Nessus), VI., 146-312 (Niobe), VIII., 159-182 (Ariadne), 
VIII., 183-236 (Daedalus and Icarus). Study of hexameter. 
Grammar (1 hr.): Reviews of forms and syntax. Every two 
weeks a translation from the Latin or into Latin. 

GYMNASIUM. 

Obersecukda. Latin, 6 hours. Reading (5 hrs.) : Livy, 
XXII. ; Cicero, Sex. Roscius ; Vergil, ^n.,\\. and VI. and 
selections from the remaining books ; study of the Epic. 
Every two weeks written class exercise based on reading or 
home task from dictation ; every six weeks a translation 
from the Latin as class exercise. Grammar (1 hr.) : Reviews 
in connection with the written exercises. 

Obersecukda. Greek, 6 hours. Reading (5 hrs.) : Xen., 
Memor., III. and IV. (selectioiis) ; Herodot., VIIL (selections) ; 
Hom., Odys., VII., VIII. (selections), IX.-XIL, XXL and 
XXII. Written translations from the Greek once in four 
weeks. Grammar (1 hr.): Syntax of mode and tense ; infini- 
tive, participle. Review of forms. 

realgymkasium. 

Obersecu"N"DA. Latin, 3 hours. Reading (2 hrs.) : Sal- 
lust. Jugtirtha, Catilina : Ovid, Metamor.) VL, 146-312 
(Niobe), VIIL, 611 ff. (Philemon and Baucis). Review of 
grammar and metric ; occasional retranslation. 

gym:n"asium. 

U:n'terprima. Latin, 6 hours. Reading (5 hrs.): Tacitus, 
Hist., L, 1-51 ; selections from Cicero's letters ; Horace, 
Carm., I. -IV. (selections); Ejjod., 2 ; Epist., I., 2 ; Cicero, 
Ma7iil. Translation at sight. Private readings from Livy, 
Curtius, etc. Memorizing of passages, mostly from Horace. 
Every two weeks a translation into Latin — often based on 
reading — as class exercise or home task ; translations from 
the Latin and critical exposition of same. Drill in grammar, 
synonyms and style. 

Un^terprima. Greelc, 6 hours. Reading : Thucydides, I.; 
V\\xto, Kriton ; Homer, Iliad, I.-XVI. (selections); Soplio- 
cles, Antigo7ie. Memorizing of selected passages. Written 



INSTRUCTION IN GREEK AND LATIN 257 

translations from the Greek and critical exposition. Occa- 
sional reviews of grammar. 

REALGYMKASIUM. 

UiJTTERPKiMA. Latin, 3 hours. Reading (2 hrs.) : Livy, 
I. (selections); Vergil, Mneid, I. and 11. (in part); Cicero, in 
Catilinam, I. and IV. (in part). Every two weeks written 
exercises (usually in class) ; translations from Livy and Cicero. 
Grammar (1 lir.) : Reviews ; occasional drill in retranslation 
from German. 

GYMNASIUM. 

Oberprima. Latin, 6 hours. Reading (5 hrs.) : Tacitus, 
Annal., I. and part of II., G er mania ; Cicero, A Sestius ; 
Horace, E2yist., I., 17-20, II., 1-3, Satires, I. (selec), II., 6 
and 8. Private readings from Sallust {Catilina), Livy, Cur- 
tius, etc. Translation at sight. Memorizing of passages 
from Horace. Written translations and exercises as in Unter- 
l)rima. 

Oberprima. Greeh, 6 hours. Reading : Plato, Phmdo 
(in trod, and conclusion) ; Protagoras (selections) ; Demos- 
thenes, Olyntli., III., Phil., L, III.; Homer, Iliad, IX., XI., 
XIL, XIV.-XXIL, XXIV.; Sophocles, Antigone ; selections 
from lyric poets (StolFs Anthologie). Memorizing of select 
passages from the poets. Occasional grammatical reviews as 
needed. Written translation from the Greek each month. 

realgymnasium. 

Oberprima. Latin, 3 hours. Reading : selections from 
Catullus, Horace, Ovid and Vergil (Mannas Anthologie ro- 
7nischer Dichter) ; Livy, XXIII. and II. (in part). Occa- 
sional reviews of grammar. Written exercise once in two 
weeks. 

The prominence given to the thought-content, intellectual, 
aesthetic and moral, in all classical study is everywhere appar- 
ent in the new program. It decides what authors 
are to be read, and the relative worth of each ; 
it gives a new view-point for estimating the value of gram- 
matical rules, composition and the oral use of the classic 
tongues. Pupils are to study Latin and Greek, not for a 
mental discipline which^will enable them to solve any intel- 



258 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

lectual task no matter how difficult or disagreeable, but for 
the purpose of bringing into their lives the noblest and best 
influences of the spiritual life of classic antiquity. The 
ability to understand and interpret the literature, rather than 
facility in using the language, is the chief end. It is this 
view, emphasized so strongly in the Conference of 1890, that 
is responsible for the present uncertainty in methods of teach- 
ing Latin and Greek. Each teacher who accepts the dictum 
of the government is obliged perforce to readjust his meth- 
ods to the new conditions. Formal grammar is ruled out. 
The Latin essay is banished. Composition in Latin and 
Greek may no longer be practised for the sake of style. No 
time is allowed for drill in speaking Latin. Cicero, the Latin- 
ist, is dethroned, and Cicero, the statesman and moralist, ex- 
alted in his stead. No wonder the scholar of other days sees 
only ruin ahead. His idols have fallen, and with them his 
hope for the future. 

A generally accepted norm in methods, therefore, cannot 
be found. Not a few teachers, disdainful of the new-fangled 
notions and devotedly loyal to that form of 
training which has created for them a second 
mother-tongue, hold to the pedagogical omnipotence of the 
Latin language. The man that exercises his intellect, it is 
claimed, in thinking, writing and speaking Latin becomes 
thereby twice a man. With this class of teachers memory is 
the dominant faculty, and methods of instruction are chiefly 
designed to exercise this faculty. Repetition is the means to 
the end. There is another class of teachers who accept the 
new doctrine theoretically, but for lack of adaptability are 
practically unable to lift themselves out of the old ruts. 
They do as they always have done, but hope for different re- 
sults. Lack of confidence in themselves and want of ability 
to adapt means to ends limit their success. There are teach- 
ers, however — many of them — who, knowing what is wanted 
and heartily sympathizing with its objects, throw themselves 
unreservedly into the work of establishing order amidst the 
prevailing confusion. It is this party, I believe, that repre- 



INSTRUOTION IN GREEK AND LATIN 259 

seiits the latest, and what bids fair eventually to become the 
prevailing mode of thought. Their practice, varied as it is at 
present, tends toward uniformity along certain lines. These 
lines I shall attempt to follow. 

The subject-matter of instruction in all classes is selected 
with a view to its thought-content, rather than as a means of 
exercising the linguistic faculty. Forms and 
expressions of rare occurrence are avoided. The "^content ^^ 
logical development of the language, while not 
put prominently forward by way of grammatical formulae, is 
nevertheless not neglected. At the beginning the teacher 
pronounces a Latin sentence, translates it, writes it on the 
board. The class reads it and gives the German equivalent, 
at first singly and later in concert. A series of such sen- 
tences are learned, giving several forms of the first declension. 
Next follows the explanation of case-endings of familiar 
words and drill on the complete declension. The same plan 
is followed in the matter of conjugation, all the time avoiding 
irregular and uncommon forms. Paradigms are thus built 
up, and for each form the pupil has a sentence at command. 
The same holds true of rules of syntax ; by induction the 
rule is formulated, and for illustration of its use several exam- 
ples are already at hand. Further, a careful record is kept of 
each new word as it occurs. Thus vocabulary, forms and syn- 
tax keep even pace. 

During the first three years there is little change in method. 
Teachers are often promoted with their classes, in order to 
avoid all possible disturbing influences. In 
time, short, detached sentences give way to j^^^r cksTes. 
connected discourse ; a text-book is depended 
upon for new material ; more and more time is given to oral 
and written translation. Incessant drill and repetition, often 
conducted with surprising rapidity, are the means employed 
to fasten it in the pupiFs mind. And aside from a well- 
learned vocabulary, forms and rules of syntax, the method 
familiarizes the pupil with a large number of common phrases 
which enable him, even in Quarta, to retranslate sentences 



260 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

into Latin with surprising skill. Nepos is " read at sight/' 
as it would be called in most American schools. New words 
and constructions are explained by the teacher ; the rest must 
be done by the pupils in class. Home study, for which only 
about tAventy minutes are allowed, is mainly given to writing 
up the note-book, or reviewing a bit of translation already 
done in class. 

One point deserves notice here. AVhereas the inductive 
method is in high favor with the best classical teachers, they 
do not, so far as I know, ever go to the length 
of depending upon some standard text for all 
the material used in the introductory course. Two reasons 
are urged : in the first place, Nepos (much more then C^sar 
or Xonophon) gives too many irregular and unusual forms for 
the beginner, and, besides, such an author does not facilitate 
the building up of a symmetricid body of grammatical knowl- 
edge. And without a thorough knowledge of grammatical 
forms and principles, no foreign language can be learned from 
a few recitations a week. Hence, Latin for beginners must 
be Latin written or selected for the purpose. Some schools — 
Jena, for exam^ole — use Latin stories written expressly for 
class use. A commoner practice, however, is to make selec- 
tions from standard authors, eliminating undesirable parts. 
Careful editing will, with few changes, give a continuous nar- 
rative, which is generally preferred after the first few weeks. 

Retroversion, so-called, is an exercise much used in all 

grades. One pupil reads a Latin sentence slowly ; another 

repeats it with book closed ; a third translates 

Translation. . , . , , , • , ..,,-• -rr • 

it ; a tourth puts it again into Latin. Vari- 
ation, which is begun in the lower grades, comes increas- 
ingly into prominence. Here the teacher gives a thought in 
German ; a pupil is asked to recast it in better German form ; 
the next pupil construes it in German ; and another puts it 
into Latin. The reading of the day furnishes the material. 
In the lower grades the variation is mainly in tense, number, 
]oerson, use of interrogatives, etc. ; in the upper grades par- 
aphrasing comes into play. Until all danger of misapprehen- 



INSTRUCTION IN GREEK AND LATIN 261 

sion of the thought has passed, the German forms are always 
given and carefully construed. In this respect^ perhaps, as 
much as in any other, is seen the tendency of the modern 
methods. Formerly tlie custom was to have memorized large 
amounts of the text, putting the main stress on vocabulary ; 
translation was avoided as much as possible. To-day trans- 
lation is to the front ; the emphasis is placed on the thought- 
content. In order to understand the thought the pupil must 
associate it with what he already knows, i.e., with the mother- 
tongue. 

The division between the Gymnasium and the Realgym- 
nasium comes with Untertei'tia. The program above given 
shows the lines of cleavage. The formal gram- 
mar of the middle grades is practically com- 
pleted with Untertertia, but until the end of the sixth school- 
year full one-half of the time is given to exercises involving 
an application of grammatical principles. The aim, however, 
as I have tried to make clear, is the understanding of the lit- 
erature ; grammar is an important means to that end. Hence, 
it rarely happens that an hour is given up to drill on gram- 
mar alone. The periods scheduled for grammar in the middle 
grades are employed in construing parts of the text already 
read and in preparing for future translation. Incidentally, 
much grammatical drill is given ; but the immediate end is a 
better understanding of the text, in order to facilitate transla- 
tion. Since the Latin essay and verse-making are done away 
with, the only test of the student's appreciation of the classic 
language is in the skill he displays in retroversion and the 
excellence of his translations. The Latin composition form- 
ally prescribed in the program is merely a summary of the 
*^*^ grammar '^ work of the week. 

The work of the lower and middle grades is but a prepara- 
tion for the real work of the course, Avhich is 
to be found par excellence in the upper classes, up^pe^ Grades. 
This is divided into three main lines — poetical, 
historical and philosophical. The reading of poetry which is 
begun in Untersectmda culminates in Vergil, Ovid and Hor- 



262 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

ace, and in Homer — beginning with the Odyssey — ^schylus 
and Sophocles. Here, in addition to a thorough understand- 
ing of the text, an appreciation of its aesthetic qualities is 
insisted upon. A taste for the beautiful in literature grows 
by what it feeds on. Mere admiration of the beautiful is not 
sufficient. Full possession demands that the student memo- 
rize choice selections — make them his own. A 
German Primaner has at his tongue^s end many 
Odes of Horace and much of ^schylus and Sophocles. Aside 
from the pleasure which such possession gives, it has a ped- 
agogic value in the interpretation of new material. A student 
knowing half of Horace by heart has not merely a wealth of 
apperceptive material for the other half, but a command of 
phraseology, metre and happy turns of thought which must 
needs make new translation a pleasure. 

With the Greek dramatists the acme of poetic style is 
reached, and in them the great problems of liuman life con- 
front the student. Nowhere in the course is the poet's art at 
better advantage ; nowhere is the ethical content so promi- 
nent. The true teacher — he who believes in teaching men, 
not books — finds in the pages of Sophocles opportunities un- 
paralleled in the ancient literature. "With a class thoroughly 
at home in the technique of the drama, knowing pages of it 
by heart, what cannot a teacher accomplish ! I have heard 
such masters as Directors Muff of Cassel, Reinhardt of Frank- 
fort and Richter of Jena — not to mention others — teach 
Sophocles in a way to make one uncertain which to admire 
most, the marvellous beauty, depth of emotion and ethical 
content of the tragedy, or the artistic power of the teacher in 
making every scene pulsate with life and every sentence speak 
straight to the hearts of his students. The ethical, the 
aesthetic and the patriotic blend in one. 

The Latin historians have something definite to tell the 

German student of his country's historic past, Tacitus and 

_. Caesar are but a step farther removed from his 

History. ^ 

present than Charlemagne. Livy, Sallust and 
Thucydides are connecting links with antiquity. They give 



INSTRUCTION IN GREEK AND LATIN 263 

the setting, too, for much of the literature read in the upper 
classes. Hence, if there were no direct arguments for placing 
historical prose in the curriculum, it would still find a place 
because of its indirect value. 

The philosophical readings are mainly from Cicero and 
Plato. Formerly an introductory course in philosophy was 
given in all Gymnasien ; the practice has long 
since been abandoned, except as it is incidently 
the outgrowth of class work with Cicero and Plato. In 
many schools to-day so good a beginning is made that philos- 
ophy may be said still to have a place. And just to the ex- 
tent that attention is directed to the thought, rather than to 
the linguistic forms, is Plato made worth reading. The new 
program will, I think, give considerable impetus to phil- 
osophic study ; at least, it will serve to arouse an interest in 
philosophy at the university. 

It may be presumptuous to say it, but the tendency in Ger- 
many to-day is away from those methods which have come to 
be looked upon as peculiarly German, and to- 
ward what has lonff been the ideal of the best ^^T^^? 

^ Tendencies. 

American schools. The movement for the Be- 
formscJmle is essentially an attempt to preserve the classical 
training, and at the same time provide a means of easy transi 
tion from lower schools to the classical school so late as the 
twelfth year of age. Stating it in another way, it means a 
six-year Latin course instead of a nine-year course. Again, 
the reduction of time given to classics has eliminated much 
of the formal drill in linguistics which formerly characterized 
the instruction. The increased pressure put upon the teach- 
ers to secure as good results as before is having the effect of 
making method more prominent. But the most American 
characteristic of all is the impetus given to annotated and 
illustrated text-books. The old idea was that the barest out- 
line should be placed in the pupiFs hands — in language work, 
merely the text. The teacher was the source of all inspira- 
tion and information. Within five years there is a marked 
tendency to give the class text-books with introductions, out- 



264 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

lines^ explanations and notes. As I write I have before me 
copies of the (Edipus Rex and the Antigone, prepared by 
Director Muff of Cassel. These books are each 
in two small volumes. One contains an intro- 
duction treating of the Greek Tragedy before Sophocles, the 
life and work of Sophocles, an analysis and criticism of the 
theme of the drama, explanations of the theatre, of the chorus 
and the action of the play. Then follows the text, with a 
short introduction to each scene. The companion volume 
is a commentary on the text. This series of texts, which is 
edited by Directors H. J. MlUler, Berlin, and Oscar Jiiger, 
Cologne, and published by Velhagen and Klasing, Leipsic, is 
one of the latest and most popular undertakings in the line 
of school-books. It aims to supply texts for the entire course ; 
the names of the editors are evidence that the work will be 
scholarly ; the plan is American, but bids fair to become 
German as well. But even though the tendency in Germany 
is to seek the ideal in our direction, we have still a long way 
to go before arriving at the meeting point. 

Some criticisms of this paper which have reached me since 
it was first published in the School Review furnish an illus- 
tration of the difficulties one encounters in 
attempting such a task. Mr. B. G. Teubner of 
Leipsic is unwilling that I should give others the sole credit for 
the new text-books, especially as he says he was the first to hit 
upon the idea. On further investigation, I find that Teubner's 
Schillerausgalen Griech. und Latein. Schriftsteller are in the 
same style and are intended to serve the same purpose as the 
other series. The matter of priority I cannot determine from 
the conflicting evidence. '' It is of small moment anyway," 
so I am told by a gymnasial teacher whose judgment I much 
respect, '' inasmuch as these books are the invention of the 
devil, and are calculated to destroy all genuine interest in 
classical study by depriving the pupil of the pleasure of in- 
dependent research." The very fact, he declares, that there is 
a demand for such books shows that a period of decadence in 
classical scholarship has set in. This is one side. The other 



INSTRUCTION IN GREEK AND LATIN 265 

side is represented^ fortunately for the siike of the antithesis, 
by the school inspector who is officially responsible for the 
supervision of the work of the teacher above quoted. The 
inspector, who is well known throughout Germany for his 
classical scholarship and professional skill, writes that I have 
truthfully given the views of the progressive teachers and 
most loyal supporters of classical training in Germany. " The 
future success of humanistic studies/^ he adds, ^^ depends 
upon the acceptance of these ideals and methods.^^ These 
two men represent what I have called the antagonism between 
the old humanism and the new. 

General References : — Eckstein, Lateinischer und griechischer Unter- 
o'icht, Leipsic, 1887 ; Berger, Stilistische Voriihungen der lateinischen 
Sprache,, Coburg; Jiiger, Ans der Praxis : Ein Pddagogisches Testament^ 
Wiesbaden; Schiller, Handhucli der praMischen Pddagogik^ Leipsic; 
Schrader, Erziehungs- und Unterriclitslehre^ Berlin ; Baumeister, Hand- 
hucli der Erziehungs- und UnterricJiislelire ; Encyclopedias of Scbmid 
and Rein; Rethwisch, Jahresherichte iiber das hohere Schulwesen^ Berlin. 



CHAPTER XIV 

INSTRUCTION IN THE MODERN LANGUAGES 

The modern languages taught in the secondary schools of 

Germany are French, English, Italian and Polish. Of these, 

French easily holds first place ; Italian and 

Mainly French p^^-^-j^ ^^^^ ^^^^^^^ .^^ ^ ^^^ Schools, and Only 
and JiingliBn. _ ^ 

in response to local needs. In this sketch, 
therefore, I shall consider merely the teaching of French and 
English. 

Historically considered, there has been some demand for a 
knowledge of the French language since the twelfth century, 

hut in early times this need was felt only by 
Devefo^^ment ^^^® nobility and the commercial classes. For 

the one, the services of private tutors and for- 
eign travel sufficed ; to others the way was pointed out through 
the exigencies of trade and barter. The surpassing brilliancy 
of the French political constitution and social order, the 
superiority of French art, literature and science, began to 
dazzle the eyes of the German aristocracy toward the end of 
the sixteenth century. Finally, with the end of the Thirty 
Years^ War sentiment passed over into conviction. A knowl- 
edge of French was an indispensable part of a gentleman's 
education. Special schools {Ritteralcademien) were founded 
for noblemen's sons in which the French language and liter- 
ature had a prominent place. But as yet French was not 
admitted to classical schools of the country ; the function of 
the Gijmnmien, it was agreed, was to give instruction in the 
humanities, not to provide for the practical needs of any 
class. In some schools, however, French was offered as an 

366 



INSTRUCTION IN THE MODERN LANGUAGES 267 

elective study even as early as 1700, and fifty years later it was 
not an uncommon thing to find Frenchmen installed in Ger- 
man schools as teachers of their mother-tongue. Local con- 
siderations, of course, induced this innovation ; but in Stras- 
burg, for exam^^le, no instruction was given in French as 
late as 1730, notwithstanding the city had been for half a 
century under French control and more French than German 
was spoken by the inhabitants. 

The growth of utilitarian ideas in Germany in the eigh- 
teenth century which resulted in tlie founding of Real- 
schools also promoted the study of French. Encouraged by 
Under Frederick the Great, the first definite Frederick the 
movement was made to establish French in the ^^^^*' 
curriculum of the Prussian Gyiiinasien. The ministerial 
rescript advised a restricted use of the grammar, and that the 
main emphasis be placed upon the reading of the literature, 
coupled with a speaking knowledge of the language. The 
works of Fenelon, Moliere and Voltaire were recommended 
as reading material. Whenever possible, native Frenchmen 
should be employed as instructors in the upper grades. That 
French soon became an important study in some secondary 
schools is evident from an order of government in 1812, 
making an essay in French one of the requirements of the 
final examination ; yet it is equally patent that French was 
not universally taught, inasmuch as substitutions could be 
made for the French essay. 

The school program of 1816 ignored the subject altogether 
— a politic expression of the popular hatred of France. In- 
deed, there was excuse for the feeling that the 
humbling of Germany in the Napoleonic AYars ga^orysmce 
was the result of too great deference to French 
ideas. In time, however, this spite exhausted itself, and in 
1831 French was made an obligatory study in all Prussian 
Oyinnasien. 

A circular rescript of 1837 assigned to French 2 hours 
a week during the last six years of the gymnasial course. 
The first official program of the Realgymnasium (1859) gave 



268 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

to Frencli 5 hours a week in Quinta and Quarta, and 4 

hours a week throughout the upper six classes. English 

(now for the first time made an obligatory sub- 

Lehrplanofl837. \ . „ ,. • ^^ , ^ 

ject) was begun m lertia with 4 hours a 
week, and continued throughout the four succeeding years 
3 hours a week. The revision of school programs in 1882 
left the Gymnasien with 21 week-hours of French in an 
eight years' course, and English elective. In the Oberreal- 
scliule French was required throughout the course, v/ith a 
total of 56 week-hours, and English during the last six years, 
with a total of 26 week-hours. As matters stand at present, 
since tlie reforms of 1892, 19 week-hours are given to French 
in the Gymnasien, beginning with Quarta ; 31 week-hours in 
the Realgymnasien, beginning with Quarta; and 47 week- 
hours in the OherrealsclinU, beginning the first year of the 
course. English is still elective in all Gymnasien, but re- 
quired in the last six years in the Realgymnasium and 
Oherrealschule, with 18 and 25 week-hours respectively. 

From the very beginning of modern-language instruction 
in the public schools, there has been continual controversy 

over the methods to be employed. The private 

Early Methods. -i i • ^ i 

tutor lived with his pupil, and in a natural way 
the latter acquired the language of the former. Habits of 
speech were of major importance. In class teaching the in- 
structor found himself overloaded with pupils, and master of 
altogether too small a portion of their time to permit of 
success by the natural method. Moreover, few teachers were 
fluent in the use of the foreign tongue. Trained in the 
Gymnasien and universities, they were far more familiar with 
the classical than the modern languages. Their only experi- 
ence in language teaching had been gained from training in 
Latin and Greek. What wonder, then, that they should seek 
to teach French as though it were a substitute for Latin ? 
Ought not the methods perfected by centuries of practice 
with one language be equally applicable to any other lan- 
guage ? Considerable facility was often acquired in writing 
and speaking Latin ; why should not the same effort be pro- 



INSTRUCTION IN THE MODERN LANGUAGES 26D 

cluctive of even better results with so simple a language as 
French or English ? 

The outcome of such questions was the adoption by the 
great majority of teachers of the methods in vogue in the 
teaching of Latin. This meant that a good 
vocabulary of isolated words, paradigms, rules ^^^Mg^^o^^^" 
of syntax and prosody, were the essential con- 
siderations in the early part of the course ; and in the upper 
classes success was measured in terms of translation and prose 
composition. But the especial advantage claimed for this 
kind of Avork was not so much the learning of the language 
as the mental discipline thereby gained. It was argued that 
anyone could learn to use a modern language, provided he 
could hear enough of it and get sufficient practice in speaking 
it, and yet be none the stronger from a mental point of view. 
In fact, the less thought given to the process involved the 
better. Nothing so hampers a speaker in his use of the 
mother-tongue as self-consciousness. The person who is 
most fluent in the use of a foreign tongue is he who has 
lived from childhood in the foreign environment, and has 
learned it by the most natural method. On the contrary, if 
the pupil be taught to analyze the foreign language, to under- 
stand the principles upon which it is constructed and to 
translate its thought into precise, idiomatic, vernacular terms, 
he will thereby acquire the intellectual power necessary to 
cope with the higher problems of life. It means the de- 
velopment of the faculties of observation, memory and 
reason. 

In a word, the modern-language teachers of Germany 
down to very recent times have been divided into two hostile 
parties — the one advocating the tutorial, or so-called ^^ nat- 
ural," method, for the sake of its practical advantages ; the 
other favouring the classical ^^translation" method, because 
of the implied mental discipline. 

With the political and consequent social advancement of 
Germany in the past quarter of a century have come many 
important changes of pedagogical belief ; and in no field is 



270 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

this more apparent than in tliat of modern languages. The 

initial impulse was unquestionably given by the increasing 

commercial demands of the empire. Beal- 

Recent Changes. , , . , -\ • • n ^ 

schools grew m numbers and m mnuence, and 
in this growth the modern languages came in for a large 
share of attention. This was partly due to the belief that 
they were worthy of study along with the great languages of 
antiquity, but more especially was it the outcome of a desire 
to promote closer commercial intercourse with neighbouring 
countries. As trade increased there Avas greater demand for 
young men who could speak the modern languages. This 
demand, however, could not be supplied by the secondary 
schools. Their graduates knew only tlie literary French and 
English ; and what with their outrageously bad pronuncia- 
tion and almost total ignorance of the life and customs of for- 
eign peoples, they were seriously hampered in their business 
careers. 

This condition of affairs was the making of the private 
schools which depended for patronage on the larger cities. 
The popularity of such institutions was a stand- 
Popular ij^g criticism of the secondary-school system, a 
measure of the practical worth of the secondary 
school in public opinion. In 1882 the Prussian government, 
yielding to this criticism, attempted in the school program of 
that 5^ear to reform the modern-language work. Not more 
work was called for, but better work and more practical. Many 
teachers, too, were becoming sceptical of the old order, and 
were beginning to contrast the time and energy expended in 
instruction with the results attained. The suspicion that 
something was radically wrong with modern-language teach- 
ing paved the way for reforms. 

Popular criticism was focussed by an essay that appeared 
in 1882, under the pseudonym of Qnonsqiie Tandem, en- 
titled The Teacliing of Languages must Start 

Quoiisque ^z-^.^,,/^. This proved to be a veritable fire- 
Tandem. J L 

brand. Educators ranged themselves for or 

against the views presented by this anonymous writer, ami 



INSTRUCTION IN THE MODERN LANGUAGES 271 

for several years there was heated discussion and bitter con- 
troversy. 

The new ideas, in part originated by Quousque Tandem, 
who proved to be none other than Dr. Wilhelm Victor, Pro- 
fessor in the Marburg University, and in part 
the outcome of subsequent discussion, were ^eJlIiJ^^Me'thS^ 
formulated as follows : ^' First, foreign lan- 
guages should, primarily, be taught by means of connected 
types, the grammar being kept in the background ; second, 
imitation and thought should be encouraged, instead of trans- 
lation ; third, pronunciation should be taught upon the basis 
of scientific phonetics ; and fourth, living languages should 
be learned before dead ones/^ The new movement from its 
inception was in opposition to the long accepted '^ transla- 
tion " method. A modicum of grammar, connected discourse 
and mastery of the language by its use were all notions con- 
trary to former belief. 

Insistence upon correct pronunciation, and scientific meth- 
ods of teaching it, would of itself exclude many modern- 
language teachers from the profession. This 
proposition alone sufficed to arouse relentless pronundation 
opposition to the new school. But the science 
of phonetics would not down. Several new books on the sub- 
ject met with a warm reception from the champions of the 
new movement and materially strengthened their cause. ^ 

The immediate effect of this unwonted attention to pro- 
nunciation not only furnished a stimulus to the scientific 
study of the language as a whole, but also led directly to its 
practical use in idiomatic form. The movement had from 
the beginning the cordial support and sympathy of those 

' The most important of these were the following : Sievers, Grundziigc 
der PhonetiJc, Leipsic, 1876 (2d edition, 1886); Sweet, Handbook of 
Phonetics^ London, 1877 ; Trautmann, Die sprachlaute inn allgemeinen 
und d. Engl., Franzos u. Deutsch., Leipsic, 1884; Vietor, Elemente der 
Phonetik und Orthoepie d. Deutsch., Engl, und Franzos.., Heilbronn (2d 
edition, 1887) ; Schroer, Uber den Unterricht in der Ausprache des Eng- 
lishen., Berlin, 1884o 



272 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

who were looking for practical results from instruction in 
the schools. Some of the younger modern-language teachers 

began practical tests of the reform theories, and 
crnTroverfy P^^blishcd the rcsults of their experiments. Had 

it not been for the indefatigable labours of 
Klinghardt, Kiihn, Quiehl and Walter, it is doubtful if 
Vietor's ideals would ever have become realized. His own 
attempts at class instruction in Marburg were disappointing ; 
teachers of exceptional ability and good judgment, more 
interested in the progress of their pupils than in proving the 
truth of every letter in the theory, were needed to put the 
new movement on a working basis. Contributions to the 
practical, solution of the problem began to flow in, and ere 
long the reformers were in a position to support their claims 
in a most convincing way. In the meantime opposition from 
the university professors and gymnasial teachers was becom- 
ing increasingly vehement and acrimonious. The breach 
was still further enlarged by the formation, in 1886, of a 
Modern Language Association, distinct and separate from 
the modern-language section of the general Philological 
Congress. Membership in the new organization rapidly grew, 
and sentiment was constantly tending in the direction of the 
'^ new school." The climax was reached in the fifth meeting 
of the Association, held in Berlin in 1892, when Dr. Waet- 
zoldt, well known to many Americans as the affable director 
of the German educational exhibit at the Chicago Columbian 
Exposition, took the meeting by storm in charging the uni- 
versities with perpetuating antiquated methods, and by advo- 
cating the need of reform in high places in the teaching of 
modern languages. In the vote which followed, the mind of 
the meeting was expressed in no uncertain way. Feeling ran 
so high that the minority, made up for the most part of uni- 
versity professors and gymnasial teachers, felt constrained to 
withdraw, thus leaving a free field to the reformers. 

It amounts to saying that at present there are two associ- 
ations of language teachers in Germany : one of teachers 
of the modern languages, according to the new methods ; 



INSTRUCTION IN THE MODERN LANGUAGES 273 

the other of teachers of the chissical languages, including 
such modern-language teachers as cannot afhliate with the 
new school. The line is definitely drawn be- 

^1 , 1 • » .1 1 Two Parties. 

tween adherents of the ^^translation method 

and those who advocate the new, or ^^ direct/^ method. 

At about the time the Modern Language Association sej)a- 
rated from the general Philological Congress, Dr. Paul Passy 
was effecting an international organization, with 
head-quarters in Paris, for promoting the Reform pL?y! 
teaching of modern languages according to the 
phonetic system. German teachers of the reform school 
eagerly welcomed the proffered assistance from France. A 
triad of scientific leaders was thus recognised : Sweet, in 
English phonetics ; Victor, in German ; and Passy, in French. 
The organ of the French society, Le Maitre Plionetique, has 
tendered invaluable assistance to the promoters of the reform 
movement in Germany, both in promoting the science of 
phonetics and assisting in reducing it to a practical basis. 

Thus it appears that there are now two principal schools of 
language teachers in Germany, diametrically opposed in doc- 
trine. The representatives of the old school Gymnasiai vs. 
are firmly intrenched in the Gymnasien and Eeai-schooi 
universities, where scholastic ideas largely pre- Training, 
dominate, and classical training, with a view to mental dis- 
cipline, receives the first consideration. The reformers count 
among their numbers a few of the younger university profes- 
sors and Privat-Docenten and the majority of instructors in 
the i?ert/-schools and Hohere TocMersclmlen. A sketch of 
the gymnasial course, therefore, will represent the ideals of 
the one party ; the work of a typical iieaZ-school will embody 
the views of the other. 

In the Gymnasien the study of French is begun in Quarta, 
with four hours a week. There is some practice in pronun- 
ciation, but at first the main effort is directed to learning the 
grammar and the manipulation of sentences based on a set 
vocabulary. Later comes translation of connected discourse 
and the writing of themes in French. The all-but-universal 

18 



274 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

text-book is by Ploetz and Kares. The literature read in tlie 
Thomas Gymnasium of Leipsic is, I think, fairly typical 

of the best classical schools. The books are 
'^'^^coursT^^*^ changed from year to year, but the average 

amount of work does not vary. The first 
connected reading is in the fourth year of the course, from 
Thier's Expedition de Napoleon en EgyjAe. The following 
year Moliere^s VAvare is introduced, and in the last two 
years four books are read : Thierry's Ouillaume le Conquer- 
ant, Kacine's Britannicus, Moliere's les Femmes Savantes and 
Taine's les Origines de la France conte7nporaine. English is 
offered in the Gymnasien as an elective for two hours a week 
in the three upper classes. The method of teaching corre- 
sponds closely to the work in French. The course as a whole, 
even at its best, does little more for the pupil than give the 
ability to translate literary English with the help of a dic- 
tionary. In general, there is good reason why gymnasial 
students have no knowledge of the spoken language and no 
acquaintance with English lands and English customs : the 
average gymnasial teacher never goes beyond the borders of 
the fatherland. 

The best that can be said for the modern-language teaching 
in the Gymnasien is that it is neither better nor worse 

than the corresponding work in American hiarh 

Results. T^ • i- 1 • -u ^ • 

schools. It IS an open question which party is 
most complimented by the comparison. Notable variations 
are to be found among German gymnasial teachers, but I be^ 
lieve that every divergence from the norm can be matched 
from the list of American teachers. The aim and methods 
of both are essentially the same. Even our most popular 
American text-books might well be considered translations 
of manuals used in the German Gymnasien. 

Modern-language instruction in the Real-schools is quite 
another thing. Here is life and vigour and ability — and, of 
course, most excellent results. The province of Hesse-T^assau 
seems to be a luminous centre ; but superior teaching can be 
found in Berlin, Altona, Leipsic, Oarlsruhe, Munich, and 



INSTRUCTION IN THE MODERN LANGUAGES 275 

also, I have no doubt, in many other cities which I was 

unable to visit. The course of study in French and English 

in one of these schools gives a very imperfect 

idea of what is done ; but for sake of compar- ^com-se!^ °° 

ison I give herewith an outline of the work in 

1892-1893 in these languages in the Realschule in Bocken- 

heim, a suburb of Frankfort-on-the-Main. 

SEXTA. 

French, 6 hours weekly, (a) Oral exercises : Exercises for 
ear and tongue ; phonetic charts and phonetic spelling are 
used exclusively during the first months ; spe- 

• 1, i-i'^ 1 J i '^. Outline. 

cial stress laid upon clear and correct pronunci- 
ation. In the second quarter, beginning of orthography. 
Learning by heart and singing of easy poems. Thorough 
explanation of the reading material ; home and school life 
are subjects for conversation, in connection with HolzeFs 
Pictures {AnschaimngsUlder). The most important gram- 
matical laws (numerals, possessive and personal pronouns, 
plural of substantives, feminine forms of adjectives, declen- 
sion of nouns, ce qui, de qui, a qui, que avoir, etre — indic- 
ative, indicative of -er conjugation, agreement of subject and 
predicate with etre) were taught inductively from the ma- 
terial used in conversation and reading, and fixed by inde- 
pendent exercises, (b) Written exercises : Beginning with 
the second quarter, weekly exercise in class — dictation, writ- 
ing from memory, arithmetical problems, answers to ques- 
tions in French and simple descriptions. Grammatical 
exercises : Text-book, Franzosisches Lesehucli by Kiihn. 
(The following poems from the reader were committed to 
memory : Nos. 1, 3, 8 (a), 8 (b-c), 9, 12, 28, 29, 33, 44, 48, 55. 
The selections for reading were as follows : Part I., Nos. 15, 
17, 18, 21, 49, 50, 51, 85 ; and from the small reader, Nos. 
21, 25, 32, 36, 40, 41, 42, 52, 60 (c), 62 (a-b).) 

QUINT A. 

French, 6 hours, (a) Oral : Readings from Kiihn's Lese- 
huch, in connection with practice in hearing and speaking. 
Conversational exercises on affairs of daily life, the weather, 
seasons, geography and history. Memorizing from prose and 
poetry and practice in singing. Grammatical exercises ac- 
cording to Ploetz^s Elemeiitarluch, in connection with read- 



276 GEmiAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

ings, pictures and conversation. The reading material of 
Sexta was extended. One dialogue was learned, (b) AYritten : 
Daily exercises in class. One tlieme each week. Further 
practice in writing from dictation, answering questions, gram- 
matical exercises and letter-writing. 

QUART A. 

French, 6 hours, (a) Oral : Repetition of conversational 
material of VI. and V. The study of a large number of 
poems and selections from Kiihn's Lesebucli (I. Contes, II. 
Histoire, III. Lemons de CJioses). Conversational exercises 
in closest connection with this material, and, further, in con- 
nection with life of the pupils at home and in school, in 
city and country (Holzel's Pictures). Practice in repetition 
of simple stories and descriptions of historical and geograph- 
ical facts. Irregular verbs were studied systematically, as 
met with in reading or needed in conversation, (b) Written : 
Class exercise weekly — dictation, answering of questions, 
simple descriptions, free reproductions of stories told in class. 
Grammatical exercises with regular and irregular verbs, in 
connection with reading and conversation. 

TERTIA. 

French, 6 hours. Three stories were read from Sonvestre, 
Au Coin (In Feu and Les Clairieres. Conversation on the 
contents of the readings, and practice in speaking in connec- 
tion with Holzel's Pictures and the daily exi^eriences of the 
pupils. Repetition of previously learned poems and songs. 
Memorizing of new poems. Grammar : Review of the irregu- 
lar verbs and syntax of snbstantives, adjectives, adverbs, 
numerals and prepositions ; use of modes and tenses. Two 
written exercises in class each month— conversations, descrip- 
tions, dictations, translations. Text-books : Ploetz's Schul- 
grammatih der franzosischen Sjyrache. 

English, 5 hours, (a) Oral : Phonetic exercises in connec- 
tion with the Lauttafel and Lautschrift. In second quarter, 
beginning of orthography. Memorizing of poems, some^ of 
which were sung. The study of selections through question 
and answer. Further exercise in speaking concerning the 
surroundings and life of pupils at home and in school (IIol- 
zel's Pictures of the Seasons). Simple grammatical exer- 
cises ; the most important rules of syntax were learned in- 
ductively, and fixed by practice in the foreign tongue, (b) 



INSTRUCTION IN THE MODERN LANGUAGES 277 

Written : After the first quarter, one class exercise each week 
— writing from memory, simple description, answering of 
questions put in English, dictation and grammatical exercises. 
Text-books: Gesenius, Element arlucli der Engl. Svrache j 
Victor and Dorr, Engl. Lesebuch. 

secu:n"da. 

French, 6 hours, (a) Readings : Guizot, Recits historiqties, 
I.; Souvestre, An Coin du Fe2i {^Ye stories). Several songs 
were learned and sung ; former ones reviewed. Free oral 
and written exercises, in connection with the readings and 
HolzeFs Pictures. A written exercise bi-weekly, (b) Gram- 
mar : The most important rules on order, modes and tenses, 
articles and adjectives, in connection with Ploetz^s 8cliulgram- 
matih, Leht. 89-68. 

English, 4 hours. Stories, poems and songs from Victor 
and Dorr's Englisches Lesebuch. Memorizing of poems and 
songs and practice in singing. Exercise in speaking about 
reading materials, pictures and the pupils' surroundings. 
Keview of poems. A written exercise bi-weekly. Systematic 
study of grammar, in connection with Gesenius' Text-Book, 
chaps. 1-22. 

PRIMA. 

French, 5 hours. Readings : Tartarin de Tarascon, by 
Daudet ; L'Avare, by Moliere. Free oral and written exer- 
cises, in connection with the literature and object-lessons ; 
transposition and repetition of stories read or recounted in 
class ; exercises in dictation, condensation and translation. 
Class essays and letter-writing. One written exercise bi- 
weekly. Drill in grammatical forms. 

English, 4 hours. Reading : Jachanapes, by Mrs. Ewing ; 
Sketches, by Dickens. A few poems learned and sung. Con- 
stant practice in speaking and writing, in connection with the 
reading material, the daily life of the pupils in home and 
school and Holzel's Pictures. Practice in rapid reproduc- 
tion of passages of read or spoken English and in letter-writ- 
ing. Writing of English essays ; dictation and translation. 
A written exercise bi-weekly. Systematic study of grammar, 
according to Petry's Die ivichtigsten Kapitel der englischen 
Syntax. 

Nothing that I can add to this outline will show more 
clearly the scope and contents of the courses in modern Ian- 



278 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

guages. In this respect the schools themselves have no 
choice ; the course is prescribed by the government. But 
there is much to be said concerning the ways and means of 
reaching the ends that are officially prescribed. 

Dr. Quiehl of Cassel is one of the most successful teachers 
of modern languages in Germany. In the spring of 1894 

I had the pleasure of spending several days in 
Methodr"^ his school (the Neue Realsclmle), where I was 

given every opportunity to observe his methods. 
Inasmuch as the first lessons present the greatest difficulties 
and show the widest divergence from the gymnasial type, I 
will give here a transcription of my notes on an exercise with 
a class of forty boys who had been studying English one 
week. 

A phonetic chart {Lauttafel, by Victor) hangs on the wall 
before the class ; it gives a schematic arrangement of all 

the vowel and consonant sounds in English, 
nrouieh^ French and German. The class has already 

made its acquaintance, and knows the value of 
most of the characters. The teacher's first words are : *^We 
will take the sounds to - day. What is the first sound in 
' sounds ' ? " A boy is directed to point out the s on the 
chart ; the boy repeats it, and the class gives it in concert. 
This process is continued with the remaining sounds of the 
word. It presents great difficulty to most of the pupils, and 
much drill is needed to make it clear. Other vocables pre- 
viously studied are reviewed with the samd precision ; each 
sound is pointed out on the chart, and practised singly and in 
combination. The boys are already quite familiar with the 
chart ; they run it over rapidly and skip about, following the 
master's pointer, very much as would be done in learning 
the musical scale. Next comes the use of numerals. They 
count (with the master's assistance) up to fifty. Sj)ecial at- 
tention is given to pronunciation ; each new difficulty is re- 
ferred to the chart, and rapid drill follows individually and 
in chorus. The teacher, I notice, does not attempt to con- 
fine himself to English ; his chief object is to make these 



INSTRUCTION IN THE MODERN LANGUAGES 279 

boys produce the right sounds and understand what is want- 
ed. If German is necessary, they get it. The advantage in 
the use of numerals is that they already know the symbols ; 
the figures can be written on the board as the words are pro- 
nounced without distracting the attention from the sounds. 
Particular stress is put on the correct English idiom. Over 
and over again come such expressions as the following : 
" Give me the stick [pointer]." ^'I have the stick." '^'^He 
has the stick." ^^ Can you count?" ^^ Yes, lean count." 
The teacher writes 123, 1,456, 2,789 on the board, and asks 
a boy to read them. Others try it. Then comes practice in 
addition. Such examples as '^'S + 1 = ?" and ^^ 9 + 5 + 
12 = ? " are written on the board, read and solved. Boys 
set similar tasks for each other, and stir up a good deal of ri- 
valry. The advance for the day now begins. A boy goes to 
the board and writes a number of six places. As he writes 
he names the figures ; the class watches critically. ''^Is that 
right ? " '' Is that the right figure ? " "Is that the right 
sound ? " " Point it out on the chart" — such questions are 
being rapidly put at each step (with the help of German, if 
necessary) and as rapidly answered by simply changing the 
order and making necessary insertions. " Yes, that is right," 
or '^^0, that is not right." Other boys try their hands — 
and voices. This leads up easily to a series of sentences, with 
appropriate actions, like the following : " Take your seat — 
crayon — book — pencil." Boy : "I take my seat, crayon," 
etc. Class : "He takes his seat," etc. Teacher : " Put your 
book on (under, into) your desk (chair, table)." Boy : "1 put 
my book on (under, into) my desk (chair, table)." Class : " He 
puts his book on (etc.) his desk (etc.)." Other sentences 
used in the same way are : " Open your book (books) ; " 
" Shut your book ; " " Open the door ; " " Shut the door ; " 
" Enter the room ; " " Go to your seat ]'' " Take your pen- 
holder;" "Write on your paper ; " " Put down your pen- 
holder." All possible variations in the present tense are 
tried again and again. The equivalent German expression 
is called for whenever a boy seems not to understand or be- 



280 GEB3IAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

comes confused. Next, plural forms are used. Two boys 
do as directed, and accompany their actions with appropriate 
responses. The class addresses the actors in the second per- 
son, and repeats it to the master in the third. This occupies 
several minutes, and is enthusiastically entered into by all. 
Everybody wants to take part, and few if any of the forty 
fail of an opportunity. Eight verbs are designated for prac- 
tice at home, in preparation for the next recitation. ^' Shut 
your books" — '^Put your books away" — ''^ Stand up" — 
"Take the sponge" — "Wipe out the words on the black- 
board "—" Open the window "—" Open the door "—" March." 
Time : fifty minutes. 

The chief end of the lesson was to afford practice in using 
English sounds, particularly those not found in the Hessian 
dialect. Not a slip in the whole hour but was 
corrected by the master, and during the review 
the chart was in constant use. Yet incidentally a surprising 
amount of English was learned : idiomatic expressions in- 
volving some twenty new words ; the use of four or five prep- 
ositions ; the present indicative plural of eight or ten verbs ; 
several pronouns, together with constant drill in the gram- 
matical forms previously given. JSTot a letter had been writ- 
ten ; probably no member of the class could have recognised 
a single word of all those he used so glibly, even if he had 
seen it in print. I need not say that the teacher was a mas- 
ter of his art ; he knew English, and he knew how to teach 
it. And this kind of lesson, as I repeatedly observed, was 
an every-day occurrence. His scholars in the upper classes 
were reading and speaking French and English with ease. 
They Irad unbounded confidence in their ability to use what 
they knew, and, for school-boys, they knew a deal. 

A lesson which I attended in the Bockenheim Realscliule 
gave me some idea of the results of this method in the upper 
classes. The school had been for some time under the di- 
rectorship of Professor Walter, who shortly before my visit 
had been transferred to the Muster sclmle, a RcaJgymnashmi, 
in Erankfort. Professor Walter's reputation as a master of 



INSTRUCTION IN THE MODERN LANGUAGES 281 

modern languages had been presented to me in such eulogistic 
terms that I was very desirous of learning something of his 
methods, but I was totally unprepared for the 
surprise that awaited me. Here was a class of goc^kenhe^ 
thirty boys, about fourteen years of age, who had 
been studying English two years. They were just taking up 
Jackanapes, by J\Irs. Ewing, having had perhaps ten lessons 
in the book. At the beginning of the lesson the boys were 
called upon to give a resume of that part of the story which 
they had already read. The master then read a selection in 
advance ; the class followed him with open books. One of 
the pupils then read the same passage, with scarcely a mispro- 
nunciation or false inflection. The grammatical construction 
was critically discussed, difficult words picked up and new 
ones pointed out, and the precise meaning of the author 
carefully analyzed — all in precise and idiomatic English. 
Other passages were treated in the same manner, but during 
the first two-thirds of the hour no attempt was made to give 
a literal translation. The story itself was the all-important 
thing ; and, to make this more certain, variations in the text 
and in the syntactical construction were freely introduced, 
and as freely explained by the pupils— all in English. There 
could be no doubt of the complete mastery of the lesson by 
every member of the class. There was constant drill in 
speaking, in grammar and in composition. To make sure 
that nothing was being lost, the last few minutes of the hour 
were given up to idiomatic translation into German of the 
more difficult parts of the text, and to free reproduction in 
English of the story as contained in the day^s lesson. 

It was all so skilfully done, and such perfect English used 
throughout (I was deceived into thinking the teacher an 
Englishman, but I afterward learned that his 
fluent speech and perfect cockney accent were 
the result of laborious study of Sweet^s Handbook and the 
patient instruction of an English wife), that I was inclined to 
set it down as a " show " lesson for my especial benefit. The 
fact was, however, as I afterward convinced myself, that not 



282 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

a boy in the class had had any chance whatever to make 
special preparation for it. The reading of these boys from 
start to finish was at sight. And I could well believe it pos- 
sible from my experience with them after the hour was over. 
The master asked me to speak to them in English. I com- 
plied with some trepidation, lest I should be the means of 
marring an otherwise perfect exhibition. Imagine my surprise, 
therefore, when, at the teacher's suggestion, six of these boys 
in turn reproduced in their own words and in almost fault- 
less English the gist of all I had told them. They were per- 
fectly at home in English, so far as their studies had led 
them, and had no fear of conversation if restricted to their 
own vocabulary. And all this the result of two years of class 
instruction in English four hours a week ! 

After this experience in the Bockenheim school, I was 

the better prepared to appreciate Director Walter's work 

in Frankfort. The first lesson which I heard 

ProfeL'orTOter. ^^^"^ g^^® ^^^ *^ ^ ^^^^^ ^^ thirty-scvcn boys in 
Sexta. They were just beginning French, and 
the lesson turned on the pronunciation of sounds which had 
no equivalent in their speech. The s in maison and son gave 
them much trouble. The chart was at hand, but it could not 
tell them how to pronounce what they could not hear. But 
a beginning was made by imitating the buzzing of bees and 
escaping steam ; and when everything else failed the boys 
Avere requested to feel the teacher's throat and nose, even look 
into his mouth to see the position of the tongue, while he 
gave the sounds. After patient drill some progress was evi- 
dent, but it was slow work. Everything was sacrificed to 
this one aim of clear and correct vocalization. It was a fine 
illustration of the theory underlying the phonetic method 
that everything starts with the sound ; once right, always 
right ; it is easier to teach the correct pronunciation than 
to correct a pronunciation that is bad. 

And yet the lesson was not all phonetic drill. Words des- 
ignating objects in the class-room were being used as illus- 
trative material ; a few common substantives, pronouns and 



INSTRUCTION IN THE MODERN LANGUAGES 283 

verbs came in incidentally, and were put at once into use. 
Books, desks, windows and doors were opened and closed. 
The adjectives red, brown and black were freely 
used, to show their order in the sentence. The ^! Purpose 

' and Results. 

exercise shifted rapidly from individual at- 
tempts to concert recitation, and back again to action. Diffi- 
cult words were analyzed, the sounds referred to in the chart, 
new combinations presented, and finally everything gathered 
up in a bit of verse which appealed to the children's fancy. 
Two little songs had been already learned, the words and 
music of each being the work of Director Walter ; and thus 
many difficulties in vocalization disappeared in the musical 
tones. By drill in the production of single sounds and of 
sounds in combination, by individual practice and concert 
recitation, by intonation and chorus singing, these small boys 
were being introduced to the mysteries of spoken French. 
It was a purely formal exercise. I can imagine that the same 
work in the hands of a less skilful teacher might become 
an intolerable bore, but not so in this case. There was the 
greatest enthusiasm throughout the hour ; and if at any time 
the attention was inclined to flag, the signal for a song would 
quickly revive it. But, on the whole, I agree with the verdict 
of an able American teacher of modern languages, whom I 
had advised to visit the Frankfort schools : ^^ Director Wal- 
ter's teaching is marvellous ; but he would succeed with any 
method, or with none." Nevertheless, he protests that the 
" direct " method is everything to him. 

" Erst der Laid, dann der Schrift I " It is a first princi- 
ple of a direct method that the sound should precede the 
symbol, and that the sound should be learned principles of 
by imitation of the teacher. The peculiar the Direct 
sounds incident to most dialects are quickly ^*^° ' 

picked up by children long before they come to school. No 
one will pretend to say that there is any reflective thought 
involved ; it is imitation pure and simple. The child of 
foreign parentage, other things being equal, learns the 
French sounds as readily as native children. Yet this natu- 



284 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

ral process is impossible in school work. Imitation alone 
will not suffice^ as many teachers have erroneously believed, 
because the linguistic environment is opposed to the intro- 
duction of sounds foreign to the mother-tongue. The learn- 
ing of foreign sounds, therefore, must at first be a conscious 
process. Ordinarily, a child can imitate anything he can 
hear ; and so long as he cannot hear the vocalized s or the 
French u, to say nothing of nasals, there is little probability 
of his giving the right vocalization, no matter how faithfully 
he tries. For this reason the science of phonetics must be 
applied to the work of the class-room. The child can some- 
times feel the difference between the ^Miisses^' 

Phonetic Drill. ,, • -.^ t i -, , • i • i -, 

and '^'buzzes in English by placing his hands 
on the throat or covering his ears when by no means could 
he hear them. The application of phonetics, a physical 
science, to the production of sounds is possible just because 
voice culture is a physical process. 

Furthermore, the number of sounds in French or English 
is limited, and the few not found in the mother-tongue can 
be learned in the first two or three lessons. In another les- 
son or two the pupil can be made so familiar with the 
phonetic chart that the gamut of sounds can be run over as 
easily as the notes of the musical scale. It is only by such 
training, founded on the science of phonetics and aided by 
exact phonetic symbols, that a correct pronunciation can be 
acquired. 

The process at first may be a matter of knowledge, but un- 
less it becomes a habit the knowledge may soon be lost. The 

next step, therefore, is to take up combinations 
Pronunciation. ^^ souiids to wliich the cliild can attach some 

meaning, preferably short sentences which by 
frequent repetition become well-fixed in the memory as in- 
dicative of certain ideas. Longer sentences, or several of them, 
may be easily learned, if there be some rhythm in them which 
tends to fix the habit. Hence, short poems are memorized 
almost from the beginning of the course. I have already re- 
ferred to the excellent use made of music by Director Walter, 



INSTRUCTION IN THE MODERN LANGUAGES 285 

not only as a means of acquiring vocabulary and its proper 
pronunciation, but also as delightful recreation in the midst of 
hard work. The little poem beginning '' Clierche, cherche, 
pcqnlUon ; Tii es lien lorn da ta maisonl'^'^ and the songs 
" Le 1)011 cmnaracW and " Ma NormancUe" ^yq the first to 
be memorized — selected perhaps as much for their stock of 
nasal vowels as for their simplicity. 

A song or poem learned, the next step is to refer every 
sound to its appropriate symbol. It is written out verse by 
verse in the phonetic characters, and copied into _ 

., , TIP . 1 Phonetic Script. 

the pupils note-books for practice at home. 
The phonetic is the only written form that the pupils see 
for months. At first the work is altogether oral ; later, for 
the sake of precision, the phonetic script is introduced ; and, 
finally, short pieces written in the phonetic characters are 
used for reading exercises in class. Walter and Quiehl re- 
commend that the phonetic script be used exclusively for 
four months, at least, in French, and one month in English. 
It is said that Passy has used it successfully in the Paris 
^cole Normale during the first year and a half of class in- 
struction. 

Advocates of the direct method differ among themselves 
in regard to the use of the phonetic system in place of the or- 
dinary spellinof. Some sro so far as to use the „ _ , 

"^ . ^ ^ ,° -,. .., 1 How Used. 

phonetic characters almost as diacritical marks. 
But I have observed that the best teachers make exclusive 
use of the phonetic system for a longer or shorter period. 
The natural query is, how do these German boys ever learn 
two spellings for every French or English word ? The reply 
invariably made is that no confusion whatever results ; the 
regular form is learned quite as easily, as it would have been 
at the beginning — yes, more easily, because knowing the pre- 
cise pronunciation the learner has to grapple with but one 
difficulty. It is merely the elaboration of the maxim, " Do 
one thing at a time.^' A close examination of hundreds of 
copy-books convinces me that for some reason the spelling of 
^ No. 14, Kiibn's Lesebuch. 



286 OEBMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

English presents no more difficulty to the German than to the 
American school-boy ; nor have I been able to observe any 
disadvantage in using the phonetic system while learning the ' 
pronunciation, even though it extends over several months. 

One thing is perfectly apparent : isolated words are never 
used. In declension and conjugation, as well as in the earli- 
est conversation in class, the complete sentence 

^^trace^'^*^ is spoken, and especial pains are taken that it be 
pronounced fluently. In this way a vocabulary 
is built up which consists not merely of words, but also of 
idiomatic phrases and sentences. Perhaps the most apparent 
effect of this plan is to be seen in the translations. Never 
dealing with words alone, but always with combinations of 
words the significance of which is understood as a whole, the 
pupil will be led to translate idiomatically and precisely, but 
not word for word. The pupil knows the meanings of words 
only as they stand in sentences : a word-for-word translation 
seldom conveys the meaning of a sentence. The direct 
method, therefore, can lay claim to the most direct route to 
idiomatic literal translation, the smtwium bonum of the old 
school. 

The needs of conversation finally transcend the school- 
room and actions that can actually be performed in class. 
. With young pupils something objective is 

tjDjGCt'J-iGSSOIlS. • T • • mi t-* • 

necessary to retain their attention. The Pict- 
ures of the Seasons, by Holzel, serve this purpose excel- 
lently. They are large wall pictures, brightly coloured and 
mounted on stiff cardboard, and depict various phases of 
city and country life at different seasons of the year. In the 
hands of some teachers these pictures afford excellent material 
for conversation ; and conversation rightly conducted means 
the acquisition of vocabulary, training in grammatical forms 
and syntax and a lively appreciation of the meaning of the 
foreign language. 

The first impulse of the advocates of the direct method was 
to make the study of grammatical principles a secondary affair ; 
what are popularly termed the laws of grammar are merely 



INSTRUCTION IN THE MODERN LANGUAGES 287 

the forms of expression adopted by the users of language. 
If, therefore, the right use of Lmguage be taught, what need 
is there of spending time in memorizing a 
fund of lifeless knowledge ? But in practice Grammar 
it has been discovered that lifeless knowledge 
may not be useless. The child that learns a language in the 
natural way may have little need of formal grammar ; not so 
the school-boy who hears the language only in class. Prac- 
tice may fix habits of simple expression, but connected dis- 
course must be ordered according to conscious principles, 
even more than pronunciation needs be referred to a system 
of phonetics. Hence the leaders of the new movement have 
come to make almost as much of formal grammar as ever did 
the most zealous supporters of the old regime. But with this 
difference : the one party will arrive at a systematic knowl- 
edge of grammatical forms inductively, as a result of language 
study ; tlie other will deduce the right use of language from 
a study of grammatical laws. In practice at least, grammar 
is as much emphasized by one party as by the other. And 
it is just at this point where the advocates of the direct 
method part company with those who rely on most so-called 
^' natural '' methods. There must be a basis of conscious 
knowledge in the acquisition of any language that is not 
learned as the child learns his mother-tongue ; such a basis is 
grammar for the |)sychical side and phonetics for the physical 
— both are indispensable. 

The writing of French and English is an important feature 
of the work throughout the course. It begins in the lowest 
class with writing simple sentences in phonetic 
characters ; when the regular script is intro- composmon 
duced, practice in spelling is given in writing 
from dictation ; later on paraphrasing is a regular exercise, 
which finally merges into free composition. In the earlier 
part of the course the pupil writes only that which he has 
learned in class, but when he has gained more power and 
understands better the gvjimniatical forms he is allowed more 
freedom. But at all stages of progress prose composition is 



288 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

the immediate outgrowth of reading, and is never dissociated 
from it. 

The literature is the centre of instruction ;' but as every 
teacher knows, much depends on what is selected for class 
use. The classic writers of a language may 
not always be best suited to enlist the sympathy 
and interest of foreign school-boys. It is characteristic of 
the new school that Jackancqjes, Tom Broivn^s School Days 
and Irving's Sketch Booh should be preferred to Emerson, 
Macaulay or Shakespeare. A rational understanding of a 
foreign literature must grow out of a comprehensive knowl- 
edge of the national life. The history, geography and social 
customs of the country must be studied along with its lan- 
guage. The school courses in history and geography can be 
so correlated with the language work as to be of great assist- 
ance. If the literature is properly selected, it will reflect the 
social life and personal characteristics of the people in a way 
to command the attention of any class, and give pith and 
point to conversation and prose composition. Hence I found 
Dr. Quiehl using in his highest French class Bruno's Le 
Tour de la France ]par deux Enfants ; and in Berlin Dr. 
Hausknecht, whose teaching I much admired, was using as 
the basis of his secoiid-year English a book of his own com- 
position on the school life of an English boy. Such material 
is easily supplemented, and is a constant incentive to conver- 
sation and oral reproduction. 

This method of language teaching requires specially trained 
teachers. In the first place, they must be thoroughly familiar 
with the foreign tongue, must know it idio- 
^''Teacheri'''^ matically and be able to use it fluently ; second- 
ly, they must understand its phonetic peculiar- 
ities and grammatical construction ; and in the third place, 
they must have a comprehensive knowledge of the culture 
and customs of the people whose language they will teach. 
In fact, this kind of teaching is more than instruction in 
language and literature ; it is training in foreign culture 
through language and literature. It is closely correlated at 



INSTRUCTION IN THE MODERN LANGUAGES 280 

all points with the course of study in history and geography, 
and re-enforces both at every step. This is what gives it 
life and vigour", and makes the results so eminently superior 
to any method that deals exclusively with language and 
literature. 

The Prussian Leliiylan of 1892 gave the adherents of the 
Victor school precisely the support they wanted. It set as 
the aim of modern-language teaching, famil- ^^_^^^^^^^^^ T^y 
iarity with the living tongue and an intimate the Prussian 
acquaintance with the life of the people who Government, 
use it. The idea of making French and English a Real- 
school substitute for the classical languages was intentionally 
abandoned ; instead of formal discipline of the mental facul- 
ties, the government set as the standard of excellence the 
ability to use the modern language and the knowledge of 
modern literature and social life. Not power in general, but 
power in special directions, was made the end of all such in- 
struction. 

The government understands full well that this end is be- 
yond the reach of most teachers. Few of them have enjoyed 
the advantages of residence in France or Eng- 
land, and not many have been trained in pho- 
netics or have any acquaintance with the methods of the 
reformers. Holiday courses, therefore, have become a prac- 
tical necessity, and the government is heartily supporting 
them. The intention is to give teachers a two weeks' leave 
of absence once a year, if they will attend these courses 
Such a subsidy, it is thought, will make the attendance suf- 
ficiently large to warrant the engagement of able instructors, 
and to arouse a permanent interest in distinctly modern-lan- 
guage teaching. 

It remains to be seen whether the rank and file of mod- 
ern language teachers can be brought to an intelligent ap- 
preciation of the new methods and trained to _, ^ , , 
make good use of them. A *^' deductive 
method they can understand, an '^ inductive "' method they 
can understand ; but it is an open question whether many of 

19 



290 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

them can make the combination of the two, on the modern 
social basis which is the secret of all the success of the Victor 
school. This is, however, no argument against the reform- 
ers. Some teachers cannot make a conspicuous success of 
any method ; some are bound to win under any circum- 
stances. But given a good teacher, the training of the 
Victor school will make him a better teacher. 

General References : — Walter, Entwurf eines Lehrplanes fiir den 
franzosischeti Unterricht^ Marburg; Quiehl, Franz. Aussjjrache und 
Sprachferiigkeit, JMarburg; Hano, Anleitung zur Erlernung der franz. 
Umgangssprache^ Frankfort; Holzel, Bilderhuch fm^ Schule und Haus^ 
Vienna ; Wieke, Einfiihrung in die Engl. Sprache, Leipsic ; Ohlers, 
3Iethodische Anleitung zur Unterricht im Franzoischen^ Hanover; Wilke, 
Ansoiiiuungs-Unterricht im Englischen, Leipsic; Beyer and Passy, Ele- 
menta7'hucli des gesproclienen Franzosischen^ Cotlien; Sweet, Elemeyitar- 
buch des gesproclienen Englischen^ Oxford; Walter, Anfangs- Unterricht 
im Englischen (program of Realschide)^ Cassel; Klinghardt, Ein Jahr 
Erfarungen mit der imitativen Methode ; Drei Weitere Jahre^ etc., Mar- 
burg; Junker, Lehrversuch im Englischen nach der neuen Methode {Real- 
schule program), Bockenheim ; Zergiebel, Grammatik und naturliche 
Spracherlernung {Realschule program), Cassel ; Breymann, Die neu- 
sprachliche Reform- Litter atur von 1876-1893, Leipsic, 1895; Waetzoldt, 
Die Aufgahe des neusprachlichen IJnterrichts und die Vorhildung der 
Lehrer, Berlin, 1893; Baumeister, Handbuch der Erziehungs- und Unter- 
richtslehres Munich. 



CHAPTER XV 

INSTRUCTION IN HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY 

"It has to be remarked/' says Comenius, "that in every 
class, history, as the eye of life, should find a place, so that 
all that is most memorable in the past, both in 
deed and word may be known. This, so far ^""^'^^^^^^ 
from increasing the burden on pupils, will 
lighten their labours. Little text-books should be written, 
viz., one on biblical history ; one on natural things ; one on 
inventions and mechanical arts ; one exhibiting the most il- 
lustrious examples of virtue ; one on the various customs of 
nations ; and, finally, one containing all that is most signifi- 
cant in the history of the world and especially of our own 
country." 

It is remarkable that, notwithstanding the high regard in 
which the study of history was held both by Luther and 
Melanchthon, no serious attempt was made to 
introduce it into the secondary schools before Deveiopmeut 
the time of Comenius. The Jesuits were early 
impressed with the correctness of Comenius' ideas, and gave 
history a place in their curriculum. Others, notably Francke 
and Leibnitz, did something for the teaching of history in 
the secondary schools ; but so little time was given to the sub- 
ject that the Avork degenerated into the mere memorizing of 
historical facts. Frederick the Great, in the truly rationalis- 
tic spirit, severely criticised the pedagogues of his day for 
stuffing the memories of the pupils, giving no heed whatso- 
ever to the development of the powers of judgment. In his 
instructions to the Berlin Ritterakademie (1765), he said : " It 

291 



292 GERMAN HIOIIER SCHOOLS 

is no longer permissible for a young man who will live in the 
great Avorld not to know the events which belong in the chain 
of Euroi:)ean history." In his opinion, a knowledge of the 
history of the classical world was of little value without the 
ability to apply it to modern conditions. The immediate 
outcome of the rationalistic movement was a change in the 
method of treating history, as well as a decided increase (four 
to six hours) in the number of week-hours devoted to the 
study. In the upper classes of some schools, the method now 
frequently recommended could be found even then in actual 
operation. A whole semester, and in some instances an en- 
tire year, was devoted to an intensive study of special topics. 
At the beginning ol: the present century, when things were 
shaping for the subsequent development of the German 
school system, the influence of F. A. Wolf was 
° ' such as to retard the study of history. In his 
opinion, nothing should be taught in a Gymnasiwn that did 
not serve directly as a preparation for the learned professions. 
Little can be gained from a study of modern history, he 
urges, that does not tend to narrow and pervert a young man's 
judgment. Media3val history can contribute little, because 
the events of that period are not such as to elevate or inspire. 
In fact, ancient history is the only history of any value, be- 
cause in it we learn of the motives and acts of the greatest 
people the world has ever seen, of the causes that made them 
great and of the errors which brought about their ruin. Such 
knowledge must be not only a desirable, but also an essential 
element in a well-rounded education. With Herbart, history 
received a prominent place in the curriculum. He consid- 
ered a knowledge of Avhat man has done and suifered, of what 
he has tried to do and the reasons for his failures, as the surest 
means of rousing a pupil's interest in the past and inspiring 
him with lofty sentiments. History becomes, therefore, a 
study of particular value. Its object is not only intellectual, 
but moral development. Old Testament history deserves a 
place beside that of Greece and Rome. Schleiermacher, too, 
called history the picture-book of ethics. 



INSTRUOTION IN IIISTOllY AND OEOGRAPIIT 293 

It Avill be seen that in the humanistic schools, where the 
chief end of education was a familiarity with classic authors, 
and where the whole course of training was 
purely formal, there was no place for history, i^'j^ncc of the 
But with the introduction of realistic notions, 
through Oomcnius, Locke and Rousseau, together with the 
utilitarian ideas which characterized the period of enlighten- 
ment, the study of history and geography was recommended 
for its practical worth. '^ A man," said Frederick the Great, 
" who does not imagine himself fallen from heaven, who does 
not date the history of the world from tlie day of his birth, 
must be curious to know what has taken place in all ages and 
in all lands." But neither Frederick the Great nor the edu- 
cators of his time believed that a mere knowledge of useful 
facts is the chief end of the study of history. On the con- 
trary, it was held that the study of history offers the best op- 
portunity for the development of the discriminative judgment. 
Properly presented, it teaches the pupil to pass over the 
unessential, and fasten upon the important links in the chain 
of causes. It affords scope for common-sense comparison, and 
aids in the formation of judgments which have a practical 
bearing upon the affairs of every-day life. History has never 
been so strongly emphasized as in the latter half of the 
eighteenth century. In the opinion of von Zedlitz, minister 
of education under Frederick the Great, six or seven hours a 
week were not too much time to give to historical studies. 
With the reorganization of the Prussian school system at the 
close of the Napoleonic wars, three hours a week were assigned 
to history and geography (program of 181G). As the schools 
came more and more under the influence of the humanistic 
leaders, and education became increasingly formal, history 
fell into the background — if not in theory, at least in prac- 
tice. As taught in the schools, it amounted to little more 
than sketches of military campaigns and the memorizing of 
dates. 

The new Prussian Lelirplan of 1892 lays great stress upon 
the language, literature and history of Germany. These 



294 GERMAN HIOHER SCHOOLS 

must be the centre to which all else tends. The secondary 

schools are looked upon as the mainstay of the throne, and 

the supreme authority has declared that these 

e rp an o . g^|^^^|g g|^^|-^ ^^^^^ ^^^^ patriotic citizeus. To this 

end, nothing should be left undone to give the youth of the 
fatherland a critical insight into the history of the German 
empire. As Goethe puts it, the best that we get from history 
is the enthusiasm which it arouses. With this in mind, the 
education department of the Prussian government has set a 
new stamp on the educational value of history. It is held to 
be of worth primarily for its ethico-religious influence in the 
development of character. 

Granted that history shall have a place in the curriculum, 
what kind of history should it be^political history? or some- 
thing more comprehensive? national, or general 
^"'iStu^tfot''^ history? Obviously, the gymnasial policy has 
been to consider political history as of little 
worth in comparison with the broader and more comprehen- 
sive history of civilization, and national history as narrow and 
one-sided when viewed in the light of general history. Prior 
to the reform of 1892, the secondary schools of Prussia ac- 
cepted history as an end in itself, without reference to its 
practical bearing in the training of citizens. '^ The object of 
historical instruction in the Gymnasium," according to the 
rescript of 1882, " is to arouse in the pupils a respect for the 
moral greatness of individual men and nations, to make them 
conscious of their own imperfect insight, and to give them 
the ability to read understandingly the greatest historical 
classics."*' The Lelir])lan of 1892 brings prominently to the 
front the necessity of understanding the events in German 
and Prussian history. It is the national history rather than 
the universal which is emphasized : the political which has 
culminated in a new and regenerated German empire, rather 
than the general which deals with the salient points in the 
progress of civilization. 

It shows clearly the determination of the government to 
make use of the schools in stemming the tides of socialism 



INSTRUCTION IN HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY 295 

and liberalism. History is to be taught, not altogether as 
a means for intellectual training, nor as an essential part 
of a liberal education, nor yet as an independent science, but 
pre-eminently with a view to the making of patriotic cit- 
izens. 

The new syllabus also shows a change in the arrangement 
of the course in history. Formerly there were two years of 
mythology and biography in the first part of ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 
the course, beginning with the legendary his- ij^ History, 
tory of Greece and coming down to the early 
history of Germany. The new Lehrplan provides that in Sexta 
scenes in the national history shall be described, begin- 
ning with the events which are closely related to the pupils' 
own environment, and Avorking from the present back into 
the past. This regression continues throughout the first year, 
and in Quinta it reaches the legendary history of Greece and 
Kome. The chief events of Grecian history to the death of 
Alexander the Great, and of Eoman history to the death of 
Augustus, are taken up in the following year {Quarto). In 
Untertertia the chronological order is followed to the end of 
the Middle Ages. Ohertertia continues the work to the ac- 
cession of Frederick the Great, with special reference to the 
history of Brandenburg. Untersecunda fills out the course to 
the present time. Up to this point the course is the same 
for both six-year and nine-year schools. The three upper 
grades of the latter begin again with an intensive study of 
Grecian and Roman history in Obersecunda, of the mediaeval 
and modern history to the end of the Thirty Years' War in 
Unterprima and of the later developments down to tlie 
present time in Oherprima. 

The introduction of the AhscUussprilfung at the end of 
Untersecunda determined the allotment of the work in the 
middle and upper grades. The course as a whole, however, 
has thereby been cirt up into three distinct parts : the first of 
these proceeds from the present back to the legendary history 
of the Greeks ; the second begins with early Grecian history 
and traces the casual series, so far at least as the German peo- 



296 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

pie are concerned, down to the present ; the third is but a 
larger circle drawn around the other two. 

Teachers of history who believe in maintaining a strict con- 
tinuity, and who think that the explanation of present events 
is to be sought in causes lying in the past, have 
jec ions. ^^ faith ill the manner of treatment suggested 
for the first and second years in the Prussian course ; and 
least of all will they tolerate the division in the courses at the 
end of the first six years. Another class of educators is un- 
alterably opposed to the allotment of only two years to an- 
cient history, one year of which {Quarto) is at the very be- 
ginning of the true historical course. Furthermore, it has 
been pointed out that, inasmuch as the leaving examinations 
are based solely upon the work of Untersecunda and Ober- 
prima respectively, no direct tests can be made of scholars' 
attainments in either Grecian or Roman history, and that 
this applies no less to the Gymnasien than to the Real- 
school^. 

Prussia may change her course of study as often as she 
pleases, she may dictate what shall be taken up in each class ; 
but she cannot change the views of her teachers by a minis- 
terial rescript. To all appearances, the new order has served 
to introduce only confusion into the history teaching of most 
schools. The veterans educated and trained under the old 
dispensation are not anxious, as a rule, to adapt themselves to 
the new requirements, which have all the appearance of using 
the teachers as props for bolstering up the throne. I regret 
to say that I was unable to find in any Prussian school what 
might be considered as a typical illustration of the Prussian 
program. Furthermore, very few of the German states have 
followed Prussia's lead in the matter of teaching history. 

There are those who maintain that the emperor's idea of 
making the special aim of historical study the fostering of a 
national spirit, while in theory perfectly correct, is neverthe- 
less pedagogically short-sighted. They maintain that patriot- 
ism should be more than mere enthusiasm, more enduring 
than the frothy exuberance of spirits that arises from the 



INSTRUCTION IN HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY 297 

contemplation of great deeds ; that love of country and of 
king depends upon a firm and unchangeable character. It 
follows, therefore, that character-building must at least go 
hand in hand with the development of the patriotic spirit. 
The best representatives of this school are unquestionably the 
Herbartians. 

The lamented Dr. Frick, of Halle, untiringly advocated 
more rational methods in the teaching of history. Probably 
no man in Germany has done more than he in working out a 
course of study closely correlated with the work in German, 
the classical languages, geography and religion. He had 
great influence in the Berlin conference, and his views were 
largely instrumental in effecting some of the more important 
changes there made. It is to be regretted, however, that 
other interests interfered with the complete expression of his 
views. 

The teaching of geography in the German schools has be- 
come a highly perfected art. I am not sure but geography 
is the best taught subject, on the whole, of all 
the subjects of the curriculum. At any rate, ^^^^^'^ y- 
one sees less of offensive formalism and more of intelligent 
freedom in the treatment of geographical topics than in al- 
most any other sphere. In its present form geography is a 
very modern subject. It took its rise from Karl Ritter, who 
acknowledged his indebtedness to Pestalozzi for suggestions 
as to natural methods of teaching. And from that day to 
this there has been no lack of university instruction for the 
teachers of the secondary and normal schools. The influence 
of a few such men as Eatzel, of Leipsic ; Kiepert, of Berlin ; 
Kirchhoff, of Halle ; and Sievers, of Giessen — all interested 
in the training of teachers — is sufficient to give geography 
a high rank in the schools. 

But geography, so far as it has to do with the earth as the 
abode of man, is inseparable from history ; and in the sec- 
ondary schools of Germany history and geography keep even 
step. Except possibly in the first two years of the course, 
geography is nowhere an independent study in the higher 



298 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

schools. The study of topography and of political and com- 
mercial geography and the drawing of maps are closely corre- 
lated with the work in history. The general 
^mstor'' ^"^ truths of mathematical and physical geography 
which have no direct bearing upon the events 
of history are taught incidentally, one might say, in the 
lower grades. On the other hand, the more important 
facts of physical geography, meteorology and geology are 
generally carefully expounded in the best German schools 
as a partial explanation of political and social conditions. It 
is for this reason that in nearly all secondary-school pro- 
grams of Germany history and geography are classed to- 
gether as a single subject. In so doing, to be sure, geog- 
raphy loses some of the characteristics which would naturally 
place it among the natural sciences ; but as the object both 
in history and geography is not so much to develop an ac- 
curate scientific knowledge of these subjects as the formation 
of certain habits of thought and feeling, the correlation is a 
distinct gain for both studies. The union is made still closer 
by placing the instruction of both in the hands of the same 
teacher. 

As a typical example of those schools in which history and 
geography seem to have a place commensurate with their 

^ _ value as an educational means, and in which 

Jena Program. » i . 

the problems of historical and geographical 
teaching are being solved in the best pedagogical manner, I 
select the Gymnasmm of Jena. The Director of the school. 
Dr. G. Richter, was an intimate friend of Dr. Frick and for 
several years co-editor with him of the Lelirprohen und 
Lehrgdnge, in which some of the best pedagogical work of 
the secondary schools has been published. Dr. Eichter, 
however, is more than an expounder of the views which 
have made Dr. Frick famous. lie has associated with him 
in his school faculty several able young men who are in 
entire accord with the Herbartian views as modified by Drs. 
Frick and Richter. It is to their united efforts that success 
is due. 



INSTRUCTION IN HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY 299 

The program for history and geography in the first two 
classes of the Jena Gymnasium is as follows : 

SEXTA. 

History and German, 3 hours. Stories from the Odyssey 
and selections from German legendary history. GeograjjUy, 
2 hours, (a) Simple geographical notions to be 
gained from Jena and the surrounding country, ^^^q^^^^^"^^^ 
Eleven excursions to various points of interest 
in the neighborhood, (b) Thuringia — (1) The map; (2) 
course of the Saale, as far as Halle ; (3) Ilm ; (4) Unstrut ; 
(5) Elster ; (6) Werra, as far as Eschwege ; (7) Itz ; (8) rail- 
roads. Chief topics : elevations, climate, products, industry, 
trade, religion and political divisions. Throughout the en- 
tire year observations of the temperature, winds, position 
and movements of the sun and moon — all of which are en- 
tered in a note-book. 

QUIJTTA. 

History and Geography, 4 hours, (a) German mythology 
and history, chiefly Thuringian ; selections of typical scenes. 
With the extension of the history proceeds the gradual de- 
velopment of the geography, until it includes all Germany. 
Map-drawing, at first of Germany ; then a gradual extension 
to all other European countries. 

The Jena program of the work for the first two classes 
differs from the Prussian syllabus in that comparatively little 
attention is given to classical mythology. In fact, stories 
from the Odyssey are about all that are not German. In 
Sexta there is very little of what could be called under any 
stretch of imagination historical work ; and, contrary to the 
Prussian plan, the entire time of Quinta is devoted to a sys- 
tematic description of the chief events in German history. 

In Sexta the geographical instruction is particularly inter- 
esting. The Gymnasium is situated on ground once occu- 
pied by the city walls. The broad street now 
separating the old city from its modern suburbs ^Region"™^ 
gives a starting-point for a map of the town. 
It is linked, too, with historical associations that easily arouse 
the interest of the pupils. Pictures of the old town before 



300 GERMAN niOHER SCHOOLS 

tlie walls were removed are still to be had. An occasional 
watch-tower yet remains standing as a monument of former 
times. A few minutes' walk brings the teacher with his class 
to one of a dozen points of interest in the town. The river 
Saale, with its tributaries, can be traced for fifteen or twenty 
miles from the heights. The location of a dozen villages can 
be indicated on the map as a result of a single excursion to a 
neighbouring hilltop. In fact, the excursions which are al- 
ways made by teacher and pupils during this first year furnish 
the fundamental concepts necessary at the beginning of geo- 
graphical study ; and the observations taken day by day of the 
movements of heavenly bodies, fluctuations in temperature 
and changes of the wind are the basis of all future work in 
mathematical geography and meteorology. 

The work of Quinta is divided into some thirty or forty 
topics, the most of which can be centred about some illus- 
trious man or great event. These embrace a 
description of the Cimbri and Teutons, their 
subjugation and liberation ; stories of Drusus, Germanicus 
and Armin, together with the geography of western Germany ; 
the Slavic invasions of eastern Germany ; the coming of the 
Christians ; Charlemagne and his times ; the building of the 
Wartburg ; the Crusades ; great Thuringian rulers ; found- 
ing of the universities ; Hussites in Thuringia and the Eefor- 
mation ; the Thirty Years' War ; Brandenburg and Prussia ; 
Karl August, Goethe and Schiller ; Napoleon, and the battles 
of Jena and Leipsic ; Stein, Blucher and Scharnhorst ; the 
new German Empire ; Wilhelm I., Bismarck and Moltke. 

The Jena Oymnasmm is peculiarly fortunate in having 
some of the best teachers which it has ever been my privilege 
to hear. The younger members of the faculty 
TeSng^ in particular have given much time and labour 
to the development of rational methods in the 
teaching of history and geography. In the lower grades a 
typical recitation begins with a review of such parts of pre- 
vious lessons as may be necessary for the proper understand- 
ing and assimilation of the topic about to be presented. From 



INSTRUCTION IN HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY 301 

five to ten minutes of the hour may puss in this way. Then 
comes the narration of the new story, with particuhxr emphasis 
upon certain important events, personages and dates. As the 
teacher proceeds with the story, he develops an outline on the 
board which he has previously carefully prepared. As he 
places this upon the board, point by point, the pupils enter 
it into their note-books. Historical pictures are freely used, 
to bring out clearly references made to the military, social, 
family or industrial life of the times. 

This use of illustrative material, be it said, is more com- 
mon in German schools than in American. It may be in a 
large measure due to the lamentable fact that 
we in America are at a serious disadvantaare in niustrative 

^ Material. 

this respect. Our pictures, charts and maps 
are decidedly inferior to the German in point of accuracy, 
execution and artistic merit. The German teachers of Sexta 
and Quinta have at command an elaborate series of pictures 
and charts illustrating almost every phase of national life from 
the earliest times to the present. What cannot be obtained 
by reproduction of famous works of art is supplied in the 
form of ideal illustrations executed in accordance with the 
best scholarship obtainable. 

The pedagogical value of such use of pictures in class work, 
so Germans maintain, is very great. It is said that the child 
living in the present and thinking in the terms 
of the present is unable to adjust himself to the ^*' ^yaiuf "'"''^ 
past without great efforts of the imagination. 
It is peculiarly the function of pictures to assist the mind of 
the child in grasping the real significance of past events. 
They are of particular importance, too, in the teaching of 
geography. At first the child acquires a store of geographical 
ideas from observation of his local environment. The moment 
he is asked to go beyond his actual experience, he must draw 
upon his imagination. It is too much to assume that he will 
grasp the full significance of geographical facts Avhich are 
totally unconnected with anything already known ; but pict- 
ures properly executed may be of the greatest service in the 



302 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

development of the constructive imagination, provided care 
be taken that the child interpret correctly what the picture 
presents. 

In the presentation of the lesson the teacher will of neces- 
sity often be obliged to consider the topography of the country 
in which the scene of the story is laid. This 

Division of Time. . . t i , . i> ^ t • i 

involves an elaboration of the geographical 
knowledge of the class. It may happen that a halt must be 
called in the development of the historical side, in order that 
maps of the region may be drawn and the physical character- 
istics of the country carefully studied. In general, it is ex- 
pected that the equivalent of one or two hours a week will be 
given to this phase of the work during the first four or five 
years of the course. If no such interruptions are necessary, 
tlie teacher will give not more than half of the hour to the 
presentation of new material. 

The next step in the lesson is the oral reproduction by the 
pupils of what has just been told them, according to the out- 
line as it stands before them on the board. No 
one who has observed this part of the recitation 
in the Jena Gymnasium can fail to be impressed with the in- 
tense interest manifested by the pupils, as shown in their eager- 
ness to tell what they know and to discuss its consequences. 

There is a life and vigour to be found here, which, I regret 
to say, I rarely saw elsewhere. One pupil begins to tell the 
story, and at a convenient resting-point he is succeeded by an- 
other ; and so on in regular order, until perchance some wrong 
impression calls up a more general class discussion. When- 
ever an important name or date occurs, the pupils rise and 
repeat it in concert ; thus the attention of all is fixed more 
closely upon the topical outline of the lesson. 

It would hardly be doing the Herbartian teacher justice to 
say that the oral reproduction is the final step of the lesson. 
He would certainly consider his work very much of a failure 
if, in addition to proper preparation and presentation, he did 
not proceed to generalize and to make application of the truth 
of the lesson to the e very-day life of the scholars. A Jena 



INSTRUCTION IN HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY 303 

teacher will rarely fail in this respect. The lesson is a work 
of art. 

The program for the second part of the work in history 
and geography is as follows : 

QUARTA. 

History and Geogra^jhy, 4 hours, (a) Geography of the 
Balkan Peninsula, the Carpathian countries and Asia, par- 
ticularly Asia Minor ; Grecian history to 146 
B.C. (b) Geography of Italy Spain, Prance ^^ZZZ... 
and Airica, especially northern Airica ; Koman 
history to 476 A.D. 

UNTERTERTIA. 

History and Geography, 3 hours, (a) Geography of central 
Europe, with special reference to physical characteristics and 
political history; German history to 1096 A.D. (b) German 
history from 1096 to 1555 ; outlines of American geography, 
in connection with the history of discovery. 

OBERTERTIA. 

History and Geography, 3 hours, (a) Modern history 
from 1555 to 1700 ; the geography of Great Britain, the 
Scandinavian Peninsula, Denmark, France and Russia ; re- 
view of European geography, (b) Modern history from 1700 
to 1815 and from 1864 to 1871 ; geography of America and 
Australia and of the German colonies. 

The most important deviation from the Prussian course 
that appears in the Jena Lehrplan is in the amount of time 
devoted to the history of Greece and Rome. 
The Prussian plan, as has been stated, gives but '^^^^^e^^^^ 
two years to this work — one in Quarta, when 
the pupils are but twelve years old, which covers the whole 
field of classical history in a single year of two lessons per 
week ; the other year is in Ohersecunda, during which all of 
Greek and Roman history to the fall of the Western Empire 
is done in three lessons per week. Further than this there 
is nothing of classical history, not even a review in the last 
year of the course. The Prussian Lehrplan, as has been pre- 



304 GERMAJV HIGHER SCHOOLS 

viously mentioned, has been arranged with a view to the 
practical needs of those wlio leave school at the end of a six 
years^ course (about forty per cent, of the entire number) ; and 
it has been considered especially desirable, tlierefore, that 
they should take with them a well-rounded training in the 
language, literature and history of Germany and in religion. 
Hence, the Grecian history formerly taught in Untei^secunda 
has given way to an additional year of modern history. Few 
other German states have adopted the Prussian plan to this 
extent. There are undoubtedly certain practical advantages 
connected with it, both in the emphasis placed on modern 
history and in the division of the work made for the benefit 
of those who do not intend to complete the school course. 
Still, the classical schools feel that in the time allowed it is 
impossible to teach Greek and Roman history satisfactorily. 
From a pedagogical stand-point there is no doubt that the 
Jena plan, wliich is the one generally followed in the other 
German states, has superior advantages for the classical 
schools. Although the second part of the course is completed 
with Ohertertia, it provides for a more intensive course in 
the upper classes, one-half of which is devoted to the history 
of Greece and Rome. 

The work of Quarta begins with a review of the most im- 
portant Greek legends. N"early all schools give a year to the 

c ^. .,, .. mythology of Greece and Rome — in Prussia, 

Subject-Matter. ^ . , . 

Quint a, and m other states, generally Sexta. 
In Jena, however, the work is confined for the most part to 
stories from the Odyssey, which also form a part of the Ger- 
man reading course. The wanderings of Ulysses demand a 
careful study of the geography of Grecian lands. Maps are 
drawn of the Balkan Peninsula and Asia Minor ; the islands 
of the ^gean are located, and the classic routes of travel 
T mi,. ^ ,r compared with those of modern times. Then 

In Third Year. „ ,, 

follows an outline history of the political events 
in Greece between 1104 and 500 B.C., together with the neces- 
sary changes in the geographical divisions. The study of 
the Persian wars brings in the geography of Asia and Egypt, 



INSTRUCTION IN HISTORY AND GEOORAPHT 305 

and the biographies of Oyriis, Cambyses, Darius and Pericles. 
The account of the Peloponnesian War is accompanied with 
a study of the geography of Sicily. Then follows a narrative 
of the events clustering about the lives of Socrates, Agesilaus, 
Epaniinondas and Pelopidas, Demosthenes and Philip of 
Macedon. The story of Alexander the Great, the division of 
his empire and its subsequent subjugation to Rome completes 
the historical course in Grecian history, and also furnishes 
an opportunity for a review of the geography of southwestern 
Asia. The work of the second semester is Roman history, 
and a study of the geography, ancient and modern, of the 
countries included in the Roman Empire. The class, at the 
same time that it is studying the history of Greece and Rome, 
has the geography of Palestine in connection with religion, 
and is reading in German the Theban legends, stories from 
Greek history, Schiller's Cranes of Ihijcus, stories from 
Roman history and travellers' descriptions of Italy and 
Athens. 

In Untertertia the history of the Holy Roman Empire is 
traced down to the year 1555. So far as possible the social 
and political changes are treated with reference th y r 

to the fortunes of the city of Jena, which lies 
at the crossing of the two great highways contended for both 
by the Germans and the Slavs. Within siglit of the town 
are a dozen castles and strongholds, each of which has a story 
to tell of the struggles of these races for supremacy. The 
history of the city church and cloister, of the city hall 
{Rathaus) and of the market dates from early times, and il- 
lustrates the gradual development of local self-government. 
The founding of the university and its later history afford a 
natural means of introducing the study of the Reformation. 
The political and physical geography of central Europe affords 
important contributions for the understanding of the course 
in medieval history. The period of discovery brings in 
America, South Africa and Asia. 

In Olertertia the chief events of modern history from 1555 
to the present time are considered. It is the period of coloniz- 



306 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

ation, in which England takes a leading part. Queen Eliza- 
beth is portrayed, and the geography of Great Britain is 
. ^...^.r studied. The Thirty Years' War brinpfs in 

In Fifth Year. ^ , , ^ i -, ^ n 

feweden and Denmark, under the hero Gustavus 
Adolphus. The French influence in the seventeenth and 
eighteenth centuries necessitates a study of the history of 
France as it centres in the career of Louis XIV. Kussia, as 
represented by Peter the Great, is given some attention. 
The second semester is devoted to the history of the eigh- 
teenth century, and the culmination of events in the over- 
throw of Napoleon and in the final restoration of the Ger- 
man Empire. A study of the German colonial possessions, 
and of those countries enriched by German immigration, 
gives ample opportunity for a review of the geograj)hy of the 
world. During this year the class reads in German selections 
from Schiller's History of the Thirty Years' War and from 
his Wilhelm Tell, both of which are side-lights on the work 
in history. 

There has been much discussion concerning the best meth- 
ods of teaching history in the middle and upper grades. 

Teachers have pointed out the defects of the 
^Teachiu^^ narrative method, and maintained that thereby 

scholars attain no power of independent inves- 
tigation ; that even the faculty of discriminative judgment 
is not properly cultivated, and that few pupils ever acquire 
a love for historical reading. Professor Schiller, of Giessen, a 
noted writer on gymnasial pedagogics, still holds that it is 
highly desirable to assign readings to be done out of school 
and to devote the lesson period to a discussion of the topic. 
The Prussian regulations, however, distinctly prohibit the 
general adoption of this method, because of the restrictions it 
places upon the free time of the pupils. From twenty min- 
utes to half an hour a day is all that a teacher has a right to 
expect of his pupils by way of home study, and this is hardly 
sufficient for the correction of notes and the making of such 
maps as are necessary in class work. In fact, there is but one 
method possible for the German teacher. He must himself 



INSTRUCTION IN HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY 307 

narrate the stories, make outlines and do the reviewing in 
the class. 

The method of presentation in the middle grades does not 
differ materially from that already described in the lower 
grades. First, there is a review of the impor- 
tant events of past lessons ; then the telling of ^ooks^.^ " 
the new story, and its oral reproduction by the 
class according to the outline which the teacher has devel- 
oped and placed upon the board. Text-books are commonly 
used, of which there are many excellent varieties. They are, 
however, mere outlines, which by no means usurp the func- 
tion of the teacher. They are hand-books for consultation in 
review and for fixing lessons already elaborated in the class. 
A text-book that presumes to give a complete account of the 
historical development of the period studied would be worse 
than useless to the pupil. He would not have time to do the 
required reading, to say nothing of sorting out the important 
facts. For pupils' use a concise reference book rather than a 
text-book is required. 

The Jena program for the final course is as follows : 

UKTERSECUKDA. 

History and Greograpliy, 3 hours, (a) Review and contin- 
uation of Grecian history down to 338 B.C., with reference 
to the ancient geography of Greece and Asia i u er 

Minor, (b) Alexander the Great and the Ilel- ^'^Grades.^^^^ 
lenistic Empire down to its subjugation by 
Rome, together with a geographical review ; then a review of 
Roman history to 133 B.C., and of the geography of ancient 
Italy. Geographical reviews of Asia and Africa. 

OBERSECUKDA. 

History and Geography, 3 hours, (a) Roman history from 
133 B.C. to 375 A.D. (b) Mediaeval history to 1056 a.d. 
Geographical reviews. Review of important dates in the 
world's history. 

UKTERPRTMA. 

History a7id Geography, 3 hours, (a) History of the pe- 
riod from 1056 to 1555. (b) Modern history from 1555 to 
1786. Geographical reviews. 



308 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 



OBEEPRIMA. 

History and Geography. Modern history from 1786 to 
1888, with special attention to geography. Comprehensive 
resume of the historical development of modern civilization. 

' The methods to be followed in the upper classes do not 
differ essentially from those already outlined. The pupils 

are more mature ; they have read more exten- 
Toachin°^ sivcly from both classical and modern authors, 

and have greater power in abstract thought. 
Nevertheless, the same general plan of presentation must be 
followed as in the lower classes, the only difference being 
that less effort is required to make the work interesting, and 
more attention can be given to the relations of cause and ef- 
fect. In fact, this final course does not cover much more 
ground than the one just finished ; but it is treated in a more 
general way, and the causes of political changes are empha- 
sized to the exclusion, in a degree, of the descriptive work 
which characterizes the earlier course. The pupils already 
know the more important facts ; the main thing now is to 
search out the reasons for their being. In Untersecuncla, 
Avhile the history of Greece and Rome is being studied, the 
class work in religion is concerned with the apostolic history 
and tlie founding of the Christian church. In Greek, Xen- 
ophon's Anabasis and selections from the Odyssey are being 
read ; and the connection is maintained throughout the fol- 
lowing year by readings from Herodotus. Early Roman his- 
tory is supplemented by reading Cicero^s de imp. On. Pompeii 
(alternating with^ro Roscio), VergiFs ^neid, Books I.-III., 
and selections from Liv}^, Books I., II., III., V., VI., VII. 
and IX. 

In connection with later Roman and mediaeval history to 
1056, the Ohersecunda class reads in Latin several books of 

Vergil and selections from Livy, Books XXI., 
oXf^":r XXII., XXV., XXVI., XXVII. and XXX. 

The work in religion is confined to the apos- 
tolic period of the church and tlie mission of Paul, which 



INSTRUCTION IN HISTORY AND OEOGRAPHY 309 

afford excellent opportunity for bringing together important 
facts in history and geography. 

In Prima, the course in religion develops the history of 
the church through the Reformation down to modern times. 
The class, by the study of Nihelungenlicd in the original text 
and the middle-high German literature, which is a j^art of 
the work in Obersecunda, is now ready to read the Germania 
of Tacitus. And with this course the climax of interest in 
German antiquities is reached. The gulf between the pres- 
ent and the past is effectually bridged over ; the German 
school-boy henceforth feels that ancient history is very real. 

The course as outlined for the Jena Gymnasium is perhaps 
the best illustration of recent attempts to correlate the instruc- 
tion in the humanistic subjects in the secondary-school cur- 
riculum. The Prussian Lelirplaii is by no means so carefully 
adjusted in this respect ; nevertheless, it would be difficult to 
devise a curriculum for the German schools, considering the 
available material, in which one subject did not bear some 
relation to the other subjects of the course. In Jena there is 
not only the external correlation, but there is an even more 
serious attempt to make the instruction of the class-room 
effective in more directions than one. The Jena curriculum 
as it now stands is the result of many years of study on the 
part of a large number of school-masters. In this work, as 
has been said. Dr. Frick was the leader ; and the Jena curricu- 
lum is to-day perhaps the best example of the fruit of his 
work and the labour of his colleagues. 

In conclusion, I find it difficult to estimate the worth of 
the German methods of teaching history. The geographical 
instruction has always seemed to me most excel- 

. . - Criticisms. 

lent, but there is room for wide differences of 
opinion with regard to the work in history. In certain schools 
which I could mention the work is undoubtedly of a high 
order ; the scholars are deeply interested, and the results are 
eminently satisfactory. Still, it must be remembered that in 
many schools — I fear in the great majority of them — the work 
is purely formal and disconnected, unrelated and exceedingly 



310 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

uninteresting. The successful teacher, according to the Ger- 
man method, must be an able story-teller, and have the power 
to stir the emotions of his pupils by the narration of historic 
events. He must be enthusiastic, and possessed of encyclo- 
pedic information. When these conditions are not fulfilled 
there is a dry recital of events, which is followed by a still 
drier recitation by the pupils. A few facts may be learned, 
but so long as they are not related to other facts they are life- 
less. I confess to having heard lessons — many of them — 
which were soporific in the extreme ; and so unusual was it in 
my experience to find a good teacher of history, that I often 
despaired of seeing the German system at its best. Teachers 
continually complained to me, by way of excuse for a poor 
showing, that no time was allowed for outside study; and that 
with only two or three lessons a w^eek, it was impossible to get 
good results when everything depended upon the teacher in 
the class. 

On the whole, I was greatly disappointed in the practical 

working of the German methods. Comparatively few teachers, 

it seems to me, have the ability or the disposi- 

NarratfvTMethod ^^^^ ^^ *^®^^ ^^^® subject in the Only way that 
can bring success. Germans are not natural 
story-tellers ; as a rule, they are too phlegmatic. Success for 
the average teacher, therefore, depends upon his ability to 
systematize and arrange his material in such a way that at the 
end of the course the pupil has a definite, closely related body 
of knowledge. Lack of interest on the part of some and lack 
of methodical arrangement are, it seems to me, the two great 
factors which account for the unsatisfactory results in the 
teaching of history in the secondary schools. 

It is still a fact, however, after all is said, that the German 
students who do their work at all satisfactorily generally have 
upon the completion of their course a very com- 
prehensive view of the world^s history. They 
are familiar with the chief events in history from the Trojan 
war to the accession of William II. ; they have traced the 
development of political geography for some three thousand 



INSTRUCTION IN HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY 311 

years up to the present ; they know the topography of the 
countries in which the great historical scenes have been en- 
acted ; they know something of the physical conditions which 
have determined the economic characteristics of various na- 
tions ; they have been led to notice the changes that have 
taken place in historical times in the relations of the indus- 
trial life to the family, of the family to the community and 
of the community to the state. Finally, the influence of art 
and literature upon the development of civilization is tolerably 
clear in their minds. They may be deficient in the ability to 
make independent historical investigations, or even be un- 
able to read intelligently certain historical works of a tech- 
nical nature; but they have, nevertheless, what maybe called 
a historical instinct. They may not be able to account for 
the faith that is in them, but they have the faith notwith- 
standing. Such students, when they go up to the university, 
very quickly become acquainted with the methods of doing 
research work ; they easily adapt themselves to circumstances, 
and become what may be rightfully termed students of his- 
tory. It should be understood, however, that the patient 
industry, the dispassionate judgment and breadth of scholar- 
ship that are exhibited by the typical German historians can 
scarcely be credited to the study of history in the secondary 
schools. I am disposed to believe that the courses in Greek 
and Latin, in German and in religion, furnish the muscle and 
sinew ; the historical course builds merely the skeleton. 

General References : — Richter, Systematisclie Gliederung des Unier- 
richtsstoffes in der neueren Geschichte^ in. Lehrprohen und Leh^gdtige, 1897 ; 
Haunak, 3Iethodik des Unterrichts in der Geschichte^Yienna, 1891; Jager, 
Bemerkungen ilber den Gescliichtliclien Unierricht^ 2 ed. , Wiesbaden, 1887 ; 
Peschel, Die Erdkunde als Unterrichts- Gegenstand^ in Deutscher Viertel- 
jahreschrift, 1868 ; Delitscli, Beitrdge zur Methodik des geographischen Un- 
terrichts^ in Nene Jahrhiicher fiir Philologie und Pddagogik^ 1881 ; Matzat, 
Zeichnende Erdkunde^ Berlin, 1879 ; Oberlander, Der geographische Un- 
terricht nach den Grundsdtzen der Ritterschen Schule, 5 ed., Grimma, 1893 ; 
Tromnau, Der Unterricht in der Erdkunde in seiner geschichilichen Ent- 
wicklung, unter Berucksichtigung der neueste Reformhestrehungen^ Halle, 
1893 ; Hand-books of Baumeister and Wychgram and Encyclopedias of 
Schmid and Rein. 



CHAPTER XVI 

INSTRUCTION IN MATHEMATICS 

The school reforms consequent upon Prussia's defeat m the 
Napoleonic wars mark the beginning of serious mathematical 

study in the Gyinnasium. Hitherto, two to 
De^eiopnient three recitations a week had been considered 

anijole time for a subject so little in harmony 
with humanistic ideals ; 10 to 14 hours weekly were not 
too many for Latin and Greek. But in the program of 
1816 mathematics was made a main subject alongside of the 
ancient classics and of equal worth with tliem. The course 
led up to and included theory of equations, chance, the ele- 
ments of analytic geometry and mechanics. In zeal to out- 
do France, the reformers had been too radical for the school- 
men. In 1827 the time was reduced from 6 hours a week 
to 4. The programs of 1837 and 1856 were still less liberal, 
allotting to Quinta, Quartet and Tertia only 3 periods. In 
1882 only two classes were left with so few as 3 recitations 
a week ; the total week-hours were 34. The program of 1882 
decreased the week-hours for mathematics in the Realgym- 
nasium from 47 to 44, and in 1892 a still further reduction 
of 2 hours a week was made. The Oherrealschulen, with 
French and English in place of the classics, but with a nine- 
year course as in the Gymnasien, have at present 47 week- 
hours of mathematics. 

Mathematics as taught in the best German schools is a unit. 
If I refer to the sub-courses independently, for convenience's 
sake, it must be remembered that they are more than parallel 
— they are interlaced and interwoven to a degree that makes 

312 



INSTRUCTION IN MATHEMATICS 313 

it difficult to separate them. A further difficulty arises from 
the differences in the secondary schools themselves. They 
have not the same courses, nor a common aim. 
From a quantitative point of view, the Real- course 
gymnasium stands midway between the two 
extremes ; qualitatively, it may be questioned if it does 
not rank at the head in mathematics. But for the sake of a 
norm, it may be well to take a middle ground. I have chosen, 
therefore, to describe the course of the Realgymnasium in 
Cassel, Dr. Wittich, director — one of the best schools in the 
kingdom, and renowned as the Alma Mater of Prince Henry of 
Prussia. For illustrations of method I shall draw freely 
from my experiences in all sorts and conditions of schools, 
and it goes without saying that whatever of criticism I may 
indulge in should not be construed as reflections on the 
Cassel institution. Indeed, I am obliged to go elsewhere for 
my material, as during my stay in Cassel the celebration of 
the twenty-fifth anniversary of the founding of the school 
was of greater interest to the pupils (and to the visitor ?) 
than the daily routine of the class-room. Its curriculum fol- 
lows necessarily the last Prussian program ; and so far as 
this discriminates against Realgymnasieri — and it has cast a 
cloud over them all — in so far does this school suffer with the 
rest. For this reason one often finds the best results in 
mathematics in other German states. Prussia 
is not altogether Germany in educational mat- schocS* 
ters ; yet, from force of circumstances, the 
smaller states follow her leadership, though at a respectful 
distance. The course of 1882, which was willingly adopted 
in the southern states, gave advantages which non-Prussians 
are loath to yield ; and while the Prussian reforms have been 
followed to a certain extent, it has been done under protest. 
The attitude of the southern leader is happily put in the fol- 
lowing words, addressed to me in criticism of recent changes : 
" I cannot bring myself blindly to admire a thing merely for 
the sake of its coming from Berlin.'' The Saxon ministry has 
especially favoured the Realgymnasium, and so have most of 



314 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

the duchies. The Weimar Realgymnasium has a most enviable 
reputation, and to its director. Dr. Wernekke, I am indebted 
for many favours. Here the good points of the German sys- 
tem are to be found at their best, and the course is not too 
much '^^ reformed." 

A boy on entering Sexta at nine years of age is expected to 
bring with him from his three-year preparatory course the 
ability to add, subtract, multiply and divide simple whole 
numbers. For the lower grades the Cassel course is as fol- 
lows : ^ 

SEXTA. 

Rechnen, 4 hours. Extended knowledge of numbers from 

1-100, especially division of numbers by smaller numbers and 

. factoring. System of tens. Numeration. Rep- 

^^Grades^^^'' etition of the four fundamental principles, with 

abstract whole numbers. Weights, measures and 

money. Reduction of complex numbers, and in connection 

therewith the simplest tasks in decimal fractions. Text-book, 

Bohme's UelungsMtch, VIII. 

qui:n^ta. 

Rechnen^ 4 hours. Preparations for study of fractions. 
Common and decimal fractions. Rule-of-three. Text-book, 
Bohme\ IX. 

QUARTA. 

I. Rechnen, 2 hours. Review of fractions. Rule-of-three 
with whole numbers and fractions. Profit and loss. Inter- 
est, discount and partnership. Text-book, Bohme's, XII. 

II. Plane Geometry, 2 hours. Introductory course in ob- 
ject-lessons. Angles, parallel lines, triangles, quadrilaterals. 
Simple constructions. Text-book, Koppe^s PlanimeU'ie, 

Arithmetih, the theory of numbers, includes both reckoning 
with definite numbers (Rechnen) and with numbers in the 
abstract. Algebra is the theory of equations. The work of 
the lower grades, therefore, is with Rechnen — practical arith- 

^ The Weimar RealgymnasiuTn has jive periods a week in Sexta and 
Quarta. By teaching simple rule-of-three in Sexta, time enough is gained 
for one hour a week of geometrical object-lessons in Quinta. 



INSTRUOTION IN MATHEMATICS 315 

metic. The aim is to secure ^^ accuracy and facility in opera- 
tions with figures," and to lay the foundation for future 
study. The first desideratum is favoured by ex- 
traneous circumstances. Classes usually num- TeacWn^^ 
ber thirty to forty pupils. Recitation-rooms are 
comparatively small. One blackboard, and that a small one 
behind the teacher^s desk, must suffice for the needs of the 
class. An exceptional arrangement is to have two such 
boards balanced on pulleys, or a second board mounted on an 
easel nearer the pupils. There are neither slates nor paper 
for rough work. All reckoning must be done on the board, 
in the exercise books which are inspected by the teacher or 
— in the head. The last, as the path of least resistance, is 
followed by the average boy, notwithstanding his natural 
prejudices against thinking for himself. Whether these cir- 
cumstances be cause or effect, I cannot say ; but I suspect they 
are partly both. The German teacher will tell you, however, 
that ^^ years ago " it was the custom to assign long lessons to 
be worked out at home ; that, to secure a reasonable percent- 
age of correct answers, rules and copies were invented ; but, 
he will add, the process was purely mechanical. To-day 
the ideal is that every step in advance shall be taken in the 
class-room ; that there shall be but one step at a time, and 
that all shall take that step at the same time. This forbids 
independent home study ; it limits the master's work to 
teaching. 

A recitation opens with questions, rapidly put, on the review 
leading up to the work of the day. Answers must be short, 
concise and complete sentences. New prin- 
ciples are developed inductively, if possible. 
A boy goes to the board — why more than one board ? — and 
writes a problem as read to him by another boy or by the 
teacher. Then more questions to the class. The pupil at 
the board merely registers the progress ; he may be quizzed 
with the rest, and if he has suggestions to make he may vol- 
unteer in the usual way — by raising the hand — and await the 
master's recognition. Sometimes, if the problem is important. 



316 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

the work is erased and another boy performs the same opera- 
tion, recounting each step aloud while the class copy it into 
their exercise books. So goes the hour. The proportion of 
time given to written work as compared with the questions 
asked and answered is not far from 1 : 5, so* great is the stress 
put upon oral demonstration. The home work is of the same 
nature — generally the identical problems, if not already writ- 
ten out ; but the task must not take more than half an hour 
of the pupiFs free time. A special exercise to be done at 
home may be required not of tener than once a month. If 
new problems are set, all inherent difficulties must be pre- 
viously cleared up and sifted in class. The pupil is not to 
experiment, nor work in the dark. 

From the beginning of the course particular stress is put 
upon facility in mental calculation. Practice is daily afforded 

in the ordinary work of the class-room, but 
CaicuhiHon special drill is given with each lesson in the 

lower grades. At first simple whole numbers 
are employed, but in Quinta the work has so far progressed 
that numbers of two and three digits are freely used. Such 
work, to be of value, must be done quickly ; the answer 
should be ready immediately on conclusion of the statement. 
From twelve such problems given in one recitation, I select 
at random three: (1) 4,1 + 0,9-4,9 + 0,9 = ?; (2) 1,2 + 3,4 
xlO=:?; (3) 0,9 + 2,4 + 3,1-8=? Such tasks are rendered 
the more difficult by the German way of reading decimals — 
thus in (1) : ^^ Four-comma-one, plus naught-comma-nine, 
minus four-comma-nine, plus naught-comma-nine, ^^ etc. 
This reading of figures and points in succession, though not 
expressly sanctioned, seems to be connived at in all parts of 
Germany from the common schools to the universities ; 
illogical as it may be, it seems to the foreigner a sensible reac- 
tion against the laws of the grammarians. The next step 
brings in the blackboard ; the problem is written out, thus : 
(25,5 + 27,45 + 31,55) :5=? ; but the solution is given orally. 
How far and in what lines these methods shall be developed 
lies wholly with the teacher. In geometry, too, there is ample 



INSTRUCTION IN MATHEMATICS 



317 



field. A good Tertianer, I am told, should be able to demon- 
strate the Pythagorean proposition in his head, following 
any designation of lines and angles that may be given him. In 
arithmetic, the multiplication table may be taught as high as 
the 20's, after which it is comparatively easy to make all neces- 
sary combinations. But in explaining his methods to me an 
excellent teacher made this remark : ^' It is well that a pupil 
should be familiar with short methods, and be able to reckon 
rapidly in his head ; but it is better to know that 18 times 27 
is the same as 18 times 20, plus 18 times 7, than to perform 
the operation mechanically." Whatever the methods in men- 
tal arithmetic may be, the results in most German schools 
are admirable. 

Some of the best schools are making a trial of the so- 
called *' Austrian methods " of reckoning. Il- 
lustrations follow (the figures here given I 
have copied from actual class work ; no others were used) : 

{!) SiiUr action — 

954 Boy says, " One and iliree make four 

— 761 (writes 3) ; six and nine make fifteen (writes 

9) ; one (to carry), seven and one make nine 



Austrian Methods. 



193 

(^) Multiplication— 

225,67 . 875=? 

180536 
157969 

197461,25 

{S) Division — 

427654 : 145 = 2949,3. 
1376 

715 

1354 
490 



55 rem. 

{Jf) 8quare-Root — 

V42 I 76 I 54= 653,9. 
6 76:125 
5154 : 1303 
124500 : 13069 



(writes 1).' 



Multiply first by 8, then by 7, and tlien by 
5, adding to this product the partial products 
already found ; write only complete sum in 
last case. The final operation is as follows : 
5 X 7=35 (write 5) ; 5 x 6+3 (to carry) +9 = 
42 (write 2); 5x5 + 4+6 + 6=41 (write 1); 
5x2+4+9+3=26 (write 6), etc. 



First figure of quotient is 2. Then 2x5 + 
7=17 (write 7); 2x4+1 (to carry) +3 = 12 
(write 3); 2x1 + 1 + 1 = 4 (write 1). Bring 
down next figure (6) of dividend, and con- 
tinue as before. 



The methods, as will be seen, are the 
same as in division. 



318 OERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

After a close inspection of pupils^ exercises, I cannot say 
that the chances of error are greater than with the usual way. 
It reduces the written work to a minimum, and decidedly 
increases the rapidity of computation. It is well worth a 
trial. Schools which have adopted it show no inclination to 
go back to the old methods. 

The rule-of-three plays an important part in Qiiinta and 
Quarta. The easier problems are stated and solved as fol- 
lows : 

{a) Statement — 

If 25 kg of X cost 53,45 m., what will 155 leg cost? 

{h) Solution — 

25 A:^ cost 53,45 m., Ih^kg cost? 

150 " " 320,70 " 
5 " '• 10,69 " 



155 kg cost 331,39 m. 

Eather more is made of compound proportion than might 
be expected from the practical nature of the course ; the 
method most frequently used is as follows : 

{a) Statement — 

A canal 245 m long, 3,3 m deep, 7 m wide, is built by 
140 men working 546 days, at 7J hours a day ; what is the 
length of another canal, 5 m deep, 8,2 m wide, on which 182 
men are employed 324 days, working 8| hrs. a day ? 

{!)) Solution — 

140 men in 546 d. of 7} h. make 3,3'" d. 7'^ w. 245™ 1. 
182 " " 324 » 8i " " 5 " 8,2 » x. 

245 X 182 X 324 x 50 x 33 x 70 



140 X 546 X 45 X 50 X 82 



Say^ — If 245 m be done by 140 men, one man will do the 140th part, 
182 men will do 182 times as much ; viz. in 546 days — hence in one day 
the 546th part, in 324 days 324 times as much ; viz. in 7| hrs, (45-6) — hence 
in 1-6 hr. the 45th part, in 8^ hrs. (50-6) 50 times as much ; viz. 33-10 m 
deep — hence if 1-10 m deep 33 times as much, if 50-10 m deep the 50th 
part, etc. 



INSTRUCTION IN MATHEMATICS 319 

The problems of commercial arithmetic are solved in the 
same form. Here is a task in interest: 

(a) Statement — 

What is the interest on 450 m. for 2 yrs. 3 mos. and 10 
ds. at 5 per cent. ? 

{V) Solution — 

100 m. give 5 m, int. in 1 yr. 

450 " " 22,50 " " " " 



450 


(; 


(( 


45,00 


(I 


(( 


" 2 yrs. 


u 


u 


u 


5,625 


u 


(; 


" 3 mos. 


u 


u 


(( 


,625 


u 


u 


"lOds. 



450 m. give 51,25 m. int. in 2 yrs. 3 mos. 10 ds. 

The greatest difficulties of the lower grades are in common 
fractions; but from the start every effort is made to keep 
within the pupils^ sphere. When a boy knows 
what the division of a unit means^, the term 
'^ fraction'^ has for him a tangible reality, a definite value. 
Beyond this limit the German teacher hesitates to go. The 
theory may best be taught with numbers not too large ; and as 
for pure practice, there is enough of that in other connections. 
The main thing is to know the value of a fraction both in 
concrete terms and in its decimal form, and to realize that in 
its treatment only familiar principles are employed. The 
prevailing use of the decimal system of weights, measures and 
money makes the transition comparatively easy. By far the 
greater part of the work is done orally, i.e., without book, 
paper or blackboard. 

The introductory course in geometry is given by most non- 
Prussian schools in Quinta, one period a week. The object is 
to familiarize the pupils with the essentials of 
geometrical form — '^^ enough to get them look- oeometr 
ing at things from a geometrical point of view.'' 
The object-lessons begin with solids, which are handled, de- 
scribed and measured. Thus arise correct ideas of surfaces, 
lines and points and their relations. It is but a step to the 
drawing of figures, and this in turn forms a basis for the sys- 



320 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

tematic study of plane geometry. Formal theorems are un- 
necessary. A long series of constructions follows tlie demon- 
stration of sucli statements as these : " The base angles of an 
equilateral triangle are equal '' ; " The angles of a triangle 
make two right angles " ; *^ Diagonals of rectangles are 
equal " ; *^ A tangent stands at right angles to its radius/^ etc. 
Such are the concrete methods of the common schools ( Voiles- 
schulen); and there is a party of schoolmen, including the 
Herbartians/ who would carry them still further in the sec- 
ondary schools. Their success is not marked, but to the 
movement may be accredited certain tendencies which are be- 
coming apparent even in the most conservative circles. The 
school that would educate its pupils, it is said, has no use for 
what is purely theoretical or abstractly mathematical. The uni- 
versities are for specialists ; the higher schools stand for general 
culture. ^' Were Shakespeare, Schiller and Goethe skilled in 
logarithms and equations of the third degree?" The mathema- 
tician may be Jew or Gentile, materialist or idealist ; it is not 
luhat he thinks, but liow he thinks, that is of concern. 

I have sketched the mathematical work of the secondary 
schools to a point commensurate with the beginning of the 
American high-school course. The next step, following the 
standard of the Cassel Eealgi/nmasnwi, is as follows : ^ 

UNTERTERTIA. 

I. Geometry, 2 hours. Theory of the triangle, polygon 
Course in and circlc. Equality of figures. Constructions. 
Middle Grades. Text-book, Koppe^s Planimeterie. 

' See Shiiltze's Deutsche Erziehung^ pp. 278-79. 

^ The Weimar course is as follows : XJntertertia^ 5 hours. Commer- 
cial arithmetic. Theorems of sum, difference and product. The circle. 
Equality of figures. Proportion. — Ohertertia^ 5 hours. Compound divi- 
sion. Factoring. Equations of 1st and 2d degree with one unknown. 
Square-root. Similarity and measurement of figures. Algebraic geome- 
try. — Tinier secunda^ 5 hours. Plane geometry concluded. Solid geom- 
etry. Powers, roots and logaritlims. Equations of 1st degree with more 
than one unknown quantity, and of 2d degree with one unknown. (Spe- 
cial tasks monthly.) 



INSTRUCTION IN MATHEMATICS 321 

II. Aritlwietic, 2 hours. Reckoning with abstract quan- 
tities. Equations of first degree with one unknown quantity. 
Text-book, Heists SammUmg von Aufgahen aus dcr Allge- 
meinen ArWmietik, §§ 1-25 ; 61-63. 

III. Rechnen, 1 hour. Commercial arithmetic continued. 

OBERTERTIA. 

I. Geometry, 3 hours. Eeviews. Proportion. Similarity 
of figures. Relations and contents of rectilinear figures and 
circles. Pythagorean proposition. Text-book, Koppe's. 

II. Aritlimetic and Algebra, 2 hours. Review and exten- 
sion of work of IIB. Theory of proportion, powers and 
roots. Equations of first degree with more than one un- 
known quantity, and simple quadratic equations with one 
unknown. Text-book, Heists. 

UKTERSECUNDA. 

I. Geometry and Trigonometry, 3 hours. Elements of 
trigonometry ; computation of triangles. The most impor- 
tant propositions. Solid geometry of the plane and straight 
line ; simple bodies and computation of dimensions, surface 
and contents. 

II. Aritlimetic and Algelra, 2 hours. Theory of logarithms, 
with practice in logarithmic reckoning. Quadratic equations. 
Text-book, Heists. 

The geometry of the middle grades presents no striking 
peculiarities of metho(?, as I have observed, beyond those 
common to the mathematical instruction in all 
classes. Euclid seems to find no greater recog- 
nition here than in America ; the German explanation is 
that the great Alexandrian wrote for men, not boys. The 
four years^ course in plane geometry gives ample time, not 
only for thorough grounding in the theory, but also for a va- 
riety of practical applications impossible in a shorter course 
or under a plan which does not provide for simultaneous ex- 
ercise in arithmetic, algebra and elementary trigonometry. 

The course in arithmetic and algebra is practically a course 
in Heists Collection. The book seems to be everywhere used, 
either as text-book or for reference. Since its first appear- 
ance, in 1837, there have been some ninety editions, in all 

21 



322 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

over 270,000 copies. The influence of this book — the work of 
a noted mathematician and astronomer — upon the teaching 

of two generations is clearly demonstrable, and 
"^^Ai"^ b^^ ^^^ ^^ ^^' ^^^ ^® ascribed many of the peculiarities 

in German methods. It contains no definitions, 
no rules and but very few typical solutions. Its strength lies 
in the systematic gradation of examples and problems, from 
the rudiments of addition to the involved types of equations 
of the higher degrees. The world over one will scarcely find 

four hundred pages of material more suggestive 
^" in treatment or richer in detail than this col 
lection for use in the secondary schools of Germany and Aul 
tria. There are many other text-books, some of them most 
excellent, as Bardey's, for instance — perhaps better than 
Heists — but to a striking degree they are all modelled after 
the master-work. In describing the first 215 pages of the 
book, the work of the middle grades is described. Its rich- 
ness and variety is apparent from the presentation in this 
space of over 2,700 examples, of which some 700 are practical 
problems. The number actually used by any one class is rel- 
atively very small. 

The needs of the many who do not continue their schooling 
beyond Untersecunda demand a wider range of study in the 

middle grades than would doubtless be the 
TMnkin-"^*" casc wcrc Oberprwia the Mecca for all. Yet 

at every step the ideal is that theory and prac- 
tice shall be united ; neither factor may be sacrificed to the 
other. The conceptions underlying the theory of logarithms 
are not less important than skill in manipulating them ; the 
ability to tliinh even a short problem clearly to its conclusion 
is better than occasional success in finding ^^the answer" to 
problems intricate and confusing to the last degree. There 
is no greater danger in teaching than in overestimating the 
pupiFs strength. Accuracy and facility in calculation and 
inference depend far more upon right thinking than upon 
correct writing. The mechanical skill necessary to note 
properly on paper or blackboard the essential headings of a 



INSTRUCTION IN MATHEMATICS 323 

mathematical demonstration is easily acquired, when it is clear 
what is to be done. It is right thinking, then, that is to be 
emphasized ; correct writing follows as a result. Every task 
that invites purely mechanical treatment, every problem too 
difficult for oral analysis, is a step in the wrong direction. 

For the upper classes of the Cassel Realgymnasium the fol- 
lowing courses are prescribed : ^ 

OBERSECUJJ-DA. 

I. Geometry and Trigonometry, 3 hours. Plane trig- 
onometry and plane geometry reviewed and concluded. 
Solid geometry. Practical ai3plications. Text- course in upper 
books, Koppe's ; Gauss^ Logaritlimic Tables, Grades. 

II. Arithmetic ami Algebra, 2 hours. Arithmetical and 
geometrical series. Compound interest and annuities. Quad- 
ratic equations with more unknowns. Permutations and 
combinations ; binomial theorem applied to positive whole ex- 
ponents. Text-book, Heists. 

UNTERPUIMA. 

I. Geometry a7id Trigonometry, 3 hours. Solid geometry 
continued. Theory of plane and spherical angles. Spherical 
trigonometry and its application to mathematical geography. 
Conic sections. Text-book, Koppe's. 

II. Arithmetic and Algebra, 2 hours. Continued fractions 
and applications. Arithmetical series of second order. Cubic 
equations. Problems of maxima and minima. Reviews. 
Text-book, Heists. 

OBERPRIMA. 

I. Geometry, 3 hours. Solid geometry reviewed and con- 
cluded. Analytic geometry. Problems in mathematical 
geography. Geometrical drawing. 

II. Arithmetic and Algebra, 2 hours. Functions and ap- 

' Weimar course : Ohersecunda.^ 5 hours. Solid geometry. Equations 
of 1st and 2d degrees with more unknowns. Determinants. Arithmetical 
and geometrical series. Compound interest and annuities, (Special tasks 
monthly.) — Prima^ 5 hours. Permutations and combinations. Chance. 
Binomial theorem. Series — exponential, logarithmic, sine and cosine. 
Analytic geometry of the plane. (Special tasks monthly.) Perspective 
drawing and shading. Map projection. 



324 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

plications to higher equations, especially those of third de- 
gree. Exponential, logarithmic and sine and cosine series. 
Practical applications. Text-books by Koppe, Heis, and 
Gauss. 

It is not my purpose to dwell on details which may be found 

in practice in any good American school. For this reason 

the mere statement of what is done in the upper 

Extent of the ..^^^^ -^ ^^ifficient. It is of more interest to 

Course. " 

know in how far these courses are actually fol- 
lowed, and with what success. And here's the rub. No one 
school, no single type of schools, can adequately represent 
the work of all ; and yet a norm of some kind is necessary. 
The Oherrealschulen are too few in number to set a standard ; 
and, besides, their material is not the best. The ambitious 
parent is prejudiced in favour of the Gymnaskun — the door 
to all that is desirable in civil and professional life ; but if the 
boy cannot get on there, the Real gymnasium and Realschule 
are next on the list. And, on the other hand, many classical 
schools make a farce of mathematics ; the better the classics, 
the worse the mathematics. The gymnasial course is con- 
cluded Avith quadratics and binomial theorem, the elements 
of solid geometry and plane trigonometry. But, other things 
equal, the demands on the gymnasial master are as great as 
in the i?e«/-schools, owing to the restricted number of reci- 
tations — four a week, save in Tertian where only three are 
given. To overcome this difficulty, some teachers prefer to 
divide the time of each recitation equally between algebra and 
geometry. The objections are at once apparent. But, ham- 
pered as the gymnasial teachers are in many ways, I have 
been surprised to see how successfully the best of them 
master their environment. I am convinced, however, that 
the conditions which determine the highest results in mathe- 
matics are to be found in the Realgymnasium of ^io?^-Prussian 
states. 

Pupils are promoted from class to class on the advice of the 
teacher. He has for his guidance the marks of the regular 
recitations, the pupil's note-books and the monthly tasks done 



INSTRUCTION IN MATHEMATICS 325 

at home. Written examinations are held in some schools 
about once a month, the regular recitation period being used 
for the purpose ; but, so far as I have learned, 
the practice is not general. The final examina- ^Eru^nalion^ 
tion of the course is both written and oral/ 
the latter being held by the master in the presence of a com- 
mittee of his colleagues and the inspector, Olerscliulrat, of 
the province. In both the written and the oral examination 
mathematics is considered a main subject. In itea?-schools 
the test is undoubtedly efficacious, and the results accepted as 
they stand ; but every where gymnasial teachers are outspoken 
against the slight put upon their efforts under cover of these 
examinations. I am told that it really makes little differ- 
ence whether or no a boy is proficient in mathematics, if he 
knows his classics. The absence of an exact marking sys- 
tem forces the teacher of mathematics to join issues of judg- 
ment with his philological colleagues ; in questions of pupils' 
maturity his opinion has small weight. The average boy 

' I give herewith the final Avritten tests for the Realgymnasien of Cassel 
and Weimar at Easter, 1894 : 

Cassel : Time^ five hours. — (1) A sphere with radius r = 15 is cut by a 
plane a into two parts, so that the entire surface of the one holds the rela- 
tion to the other of m : n = 3 : 2. What is the height of the smallest part ? 
(2) Two stars appear to be at a distance of 17° 15' from each other. The 
declination of the one is 21° 9', of the other 35° 8'. What is the difference 
in right ascension between the two ? (3) A parabola and a straight line 
have the equations, y'^ = ^x and y =x — 3. How large is the segment of the 
parabola which is intersected by the straight line ? (4) a; = 3 + y- +2. 

Weimar : Time, six hours. — (1) Find a circle touching two given 
circles, one of them in a given point. (2) Given the longest side of a 
triangle equal to 25 cm, and the ratio 2 : 3 : 5 of the radii of the three 
circles touching externally, find the other two sides, the angles and the 
radius of the inscribed circle. (3) A cone made of pine wood (sp. gravity 
I), whose radius and altitude are the same, has had i of its volume cut 
off at the top. How far does it, with its base turned upward, go down in 
water ? (4) Two elipses, whose minor axes are as 1 : '\/2, have each the 
end of its major axis coinciding with the centre of the other. Find the 
co-ordinates of their points of intersection, and the condition of their 
being of the same length. 



326 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

is not slow to take advantage of all that comes his way. 
Indirectly, therefore, the best interests of a department are 
jeopardized ; weakness is introduced where there should be 
strength. 

Not only have examinations no terrors, but it is not gen- 
erally recognised that a knowledge of mathematics increases 
one's chances of success in professional life. 
nLt'eTter These factors all tend to make a complicated 
problem the more involved. And not all mas- 
ters are teachers. The results in such cases are deplorable in 
any event, but especially so under German methods. When 
all depends upon the teacher and he fails, what is to become 
of the pupil ? He has no incentives, ideal or material, to spur 
him on ; and if he be a genius, the very text-books discourage 
independence. The pupil must follow ; he can neither lead 
nor go alone. 

The German ideal is very high, though possibly none too 
high. But for ideal methods you must have ideal teachers, 
and no one will say that Germany has too many 
T^acherr ^^ s^^^^' I^cleed, I am told that it is more diffi- 
cult to find good teachers of mathematics than of 
any other subject. One cause is not far to seek. The Ger- 
man universities are founded on the classics. For three cen- 
turies, and more, a knowledge of Greek and Latin has been 
the conditio sine qua non of admission to university privileges ; 
and to-day only graduates of the Gymtiasie^i have full rights. 
Popular demands of the last few years have secured some con- 
cessions for the Heal-schooh, but in each step the intellectual 
monopolists have fancied an encroachment on the dignity of 
learning. The medical fraternity, as individuals, would be 
glad of more and better training in science and the modern 
languages ; but the pride of the profession demands Greek 
and Latin instead. What wonder, then, that questions of 
caste have arisen from the partisan strife over the rights of 
the secondary schools ! It even enters the university, and 
casts a shadow upon those courses that are '^ fit only for Eeal- 
school graduates. '^ And what are these courses ? Mathematics 



INSTRUCTION IN MATHEMATICS 327 

and Natural Sciences ! ^ The moral is plain. The teacher of 
mathematics has not the social standing of the philologian. 
Caste enters into school life, and the students see it. Nothing 
but the force of personality can break these bonds — a person- 
ality stronger than most men have. Or, stated in another way, 
there is nothing inherent in the office of the mathematician 
to gain for him a social rank equal to that indissolubly con- 
nected with the humanistic studies. I speak especially of the 
mathematical post in the Gymnasium; in the Real-^ch.oo\ 
there may not be the same internal gradations, but the school 
itself stands on a lower level. The outlook discourages the 
best candidates ; and, as a result, the mantle too often falls on 
men who have not the keen, clear-cut intellects so essential to 
success under the German system. 

Despite these defects in particulars, there are advantages in 
the German plan which no thoughtful teacher, no one charged 
with school management, can afford to disregard. 
The teacher is always a trained specialist. No ^^efectT^ 
man finds a post in a German school nowadays 
who is not master of what he purposes to teach ; he has had, 
moreover, two years of professional training in theory and 
practice. And, on the other side, there are (1) the unity of 
the course, which is rendered still more effective by the inter- 
lacing and blending of the subordinate lines ; (2) the empha- 
sis put upon mental operations, and (3) the supreme end to- 
ward which all aims — logical tliiyiking. These, at least, can 
be unreservedly commended. As for the German methods, 
the final question is. Does the pupil become an independent 
thinker ? Granting good teachers, my answers are : No — so far 
as the poorest are concerned ; Very doubtful — for the average ; 
but emphatically Yes — for the best in the class. To the ear- 
nest student, the very consciousness of increasing strength and 
clearness of vision is of itself an incentive to mastery. He 
feels that he is getting something better than skill in the 
manipulation of symbols. The external operation is for him 
merely the record of his own thought — convenient and useful 
^ Kealgymnasiasts may also study the modern languages. 



328 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

for the time being, but relatively unessential. '^ The life is 
more than meat, and the body is more than raiment." 

General References : — Meyer, 3IUteilungen aus dem mathematischen 
Lehrplan des Stadt gymnasiums zu Halle^ program of 1891 ; Becker, Zur 
Reform des geometrischen Unterrichts^ Wertheim, 1880; Wernicke, Die 
Grundlage der Euklidischeii Geometrie des Classes, Brunswick, 1887 ; 
Schellbach, Uber den Itihalt und die Bedeyitung des mathematischen und 
physikalischen Unierrichts auf unseren Gyiniiasien., Berlin, 2d ed., 1884; 
Kehrbach, 3Ion. Ger. Ptsc?,, Vol. III. — Geschichte des mathematischen JJn- 
terricht im deutschen 3Iittelalter his zum Jahre 1525 ; Beier, Die Mathe- 
matik im Unterricht der hoheren Schulen von der Reformation bis zur 
3Iitte des 18. Jahrhunderts^ Krimmitschau, 1879 ; Schellbach, Der Zu- 
kunft der 3Iathematik, Berlin, 1887 ; Baumeister, ffandbuch^ Vol. IV. ; 
Schiller, Praktische Fddagogik ; Encyclopedias of Schmid and Rein. 



CHAPTER XYII 

INSTRUCTION IN THE NATURAL SCIENCES 

In the early dnjs of the German schools the classical lan- 
guages and literatures formed substantially the entire curric- 
ulum. The Reformation induced some minor 
changes and gave a new impulse to educational Protestant 
activity, but we are told that in Sturm's school Schools, 
in Strasburg — the most famous and influential school of the 
sixteenth century — neither history, nor mathematics, nor the 
natural sciences, were considered of any consequence ; that 
for thirty years even the elements of arithmetic were not 
taught, and that throughout Sturm's long tenure of office 
arithmetic and geometry, geography and astronomy, were 
never much in evidence except on paper. 

The Jesuits did little more in science ; pietas et honi mores, 
their great aim in education, seems to have been conceived of 
as independent of the physical world. But 
with the advent of the seventeenth century a ^"tJJ'e^^e^rs' ""* 
new view of the world was promulgated, and 
the necessity of man's knowing the significance of his environ- 
ment became obvious. The ideas of Bacon were domiciled 
in Germany by the teachings of Ratke and Comenius, but 
it would be erroneous to suppose that the ideals of these 
advanced thinkers were speedily realized in the father- 
land. Not even in the Ritteralcademieii of the following 
century did the natural sciences have any important place ; 
nevertheless, the secondary schools of the eighteenth century, 
influenced doubtless by A. H. Francke's experiments in Halle, 
recognised for the first time the utility of certain forms of 

329 



330 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

scientific knowledge. Utilitarian considerations, pure and 
simple, determined the admission of Heimatskunde into the 
curriculum of the first Real-School^. As these institutions 
became more clearly differentiated from the humanistic 
schools, the practical advantages of the natural sciences were 
the more apparent ; and in place of the desultory work in 
general science, systematic study of particular sciences was 
introduced. 

The natural sciences have been prescribed as an integral 
part of the curriculum of all Prussian higher schools since 
1816. The southern states did not recognise 
the innovation for several years ; and when they 
did, less time was given to the sciences than in Prussia. This 
distinction is still maintained in respect to the comparative 
time allotment. The Prussian Gymnasmm has eighteen 
week-hours in the sciences, an average of two hours a week 
for each class ; Bavaria gives but five hours to natural history, 
as compared with eight hours in Prussia, and does not yet 
recognise physics as a subject independent of mathematics ; 
Wiirtemberg prescribes a total of fourteen week-hours for 
natural history and physics, an average of one and four- 
tenths hours a week. 

At the present time the biological sciences are everywhere 
completely separated from physics and chemistry. The course 
in natural history begins in Sexta with children of nine years 
of age, and is continued in the Prussian Oymnasie7i during 
the succeeding four years, in the Realgymnasien and Oher- 
realscliulen for six years. Physics and chemistry are taught 
only in the upper classes. 

The chief aim of all instruction in the natural sciences is 

to cultivate the habit of keen and accurate observation, to 

strengthen the pupils' reasoning powers and 

TheChiefAim. ^ ^ \ [ • i l i ^ 

to increase his ability oi expressing clearly what 
he sees and thinks. The acquisition of a fund of systematic 
knowledge or useful information is a secondary consideration. 
Pedagogical writers and practical teachers are agreed in this ; 
furthermore, there is general unanimity of opinion touching 



INSTRUCTION IN THE NATURAL SCIENCES 331 

the subject-matter and methods of instruction. So far as is 
possible, the material used should be taken from the pupils' 
immediate environment ; the order of progression should be 
from the near and simple to the more remote and difficult. 
In methods, it is generally agreed to be advisable to work in- 
ductively rather than deductively. A revolution in methods 
of teaching is even now taking place. 

A few years ago the ideal was to give a systematic presenta- 
tion of each science ; the subject-matter might come from 
near or far, providing it satisfied the general 
scheme. The leaders in theory and practice 
of the present day have no hesitation in throwing over any 
scheme that early takes the child oat of his local environment 
and substitutes for his own observation, crude though it may 
be, the ready-made reflections of the text-book or the opinions 
of the teacher. As between a little of all that can be known 
and all that can be known of a little, there can be no doubt 
in the German mind ; to drink deep or not at all is surely a 
German characteristic. Nevertheless, it is impossible to follow 
out all lines that have their origin in the home environment; 
a selection must be made, and the government allows absolute 
freedom of choice to schools and teachers as to what shall be 
taught within the limits above mentioned. Success or failure, 
therefore, in science work reflects directly upon the teachers 
and the management of schools. 

The first steps in natural history lead the child to observe 
the simplest and most familiar forms of plant and animal life 
in his home region. The wisdom of the teacher 
is manifested in the selections he makes for class x. ^^.^"°^ ^ 

Equipment. 

instruction ; not all groups are represented in 
the local flora and fauna, and consideration of too many rep- 
resentatives from any one group is precluded for lack of time. 
Training in observation demands that the pupil handle the 
specimens studied and report his own opinions. In botany 
this can be easily managed, but in zoology it becomes a differ- 
ent problem. No laboratories are provided for individual 
work in natural history, and consequently from the very be- 



332 GERMAN HIOHER SCHOOLS 

ginning the opportunity for individual observation is greatly 
restricted. To overcome this obstacle, magnificent collections 
illustrating almost every department of natural science have 
been gathered by many of the leading schools. In botany, 
most schools will have a complete herbarium of domestic 
plants and many specimens of foreign flora. Besides this, 
models are commonly used for class demonstration, and ex- 
cellent charts of foreign plants supplement the illustrations 
of text-books. 

Mounted animals, skeletons and preparations in alcohol are 
found in large numbers in some schools, and are put to good 
use in the class-room ; but without laboratory work there 
is small chance of promoting those habits of ^^keen and ac- 
curate observation '^ everywhere demanded of instruction in 
science. Again, the teacher must rely largely on models 
and charts. And although the German teacher is fortunate 
in having his choice of the best models and charts in the 
world, yet there is an obvious contradiction between the de- 
mands of theory and the results of practice. In other re- 
spects, too, practice often lags so far behind theory, that one 
is inclined to doubt the all-sufficiency of high ideals even in 
Germany. 

It is with no little hesitancy that I attempt an explication 
of the prevailing methods of teaching the natural sciences in 
the German schools. So much of the instruction to which I 
listened was unpardonably bad, that I mucli distrust my ability 
to present clearly that which is obviously commendable. 
Fortunately, my experiences were not always disappointing; 
and, on the whole, it may be quite as well for the reader to 
know that German schools and German teachers are not 
always the paragons of excellence that some would have us 
think. 

"We have seen that more time is given to the sciences in the 

Eeal-schools than in the Gym7iasien — in Prussia, a total of 

„. .„ thirty week-hours in the Realcnimnasien and 

Time Allotment ,■,.,..,, ^, '^ ^ 

thirty-six m the Ooerrealsclmlen, as compared 
with eighteen in the Gymnasien. Furthermore, the science 



INSTRUCTION IN THE NATURAL SCIENCES 333 

work in the Recd-^dhool^ is taken more seriously than in the 
Gymnasien. In consequence, I have selected as a type of what 
is done in Prussia the course of study prescribed in the Konig- 
stdcUisclies Realgyiniiasium of Berlin. This is one of the oldest 
i?ert?-schools of the city, founded in 1832, and now attended 
by nearly six hundred students. For the fifteen classes there 
are twenty Oherlehrer and six Hilfslehrer, besides four teach- 
ers of drawing, music and gymnastics. Three Hilfslehrer 
and six Oderlehrcr teach natural science — no one, however, 
devoting himself exclusively to science work. The most fre- 
quent combinations are natural history, geography and arith- 
metic ; natural history, geography and German ; physics (or 
chemistry), algebra and geometry ; chemistry, natural his- 
tory and arithmetic. The Direhtor teaches physics, natural 
history and religion. 

The course followed in this school comes near the high- 
water-mark in Prussia. Such differences as exist in other 
schools are chiefly due, as I have shown, to the 
preferences of individual teachers. The teacher ^^^^^^^y^^ °^ 
who delights in field work will arrange for class 
excursions, not merely for the sake of securing botanical 
specimens, but with a view of interesting his pupils in nature 
and nature study. Another teacher may have a genius for 
class-room demonstration, and succeed thereby in arousing the 
right form of scientific curiosity. A third may know how to 
utilize the laboratory and make it an efficient instrument in 
promoting inductive research. The Konigstddtisches Gym- 
7iasium has such teachers, and we find represented here 
all phases of scientific work to be found in any secondary 
school. 

The course in natural history, as outlined in the program 
of 1895-1896, is as follows : 

Sextet: 2 hours. Summer— Description of various plants 
with lar^re and simple flowers. Explanation of morphological 
cal principles. Winter-Description of various Natural History, 
mammals and birds and their habits. JiiXplana- 
tion of the most important zoological principles and laws. 



334 QETIMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

Text-book, Vogel, Miillenhoff, Kienitz-Gerloff, Botanik iind 
Zoologie, Tell I. 

Quinta : 2 hours. Summer — Comparative description of 
plants of simple structure, with a view to their classification 
according to common and differential characteristics. Study 
of morphological principles continued. Winter — Comparative 
description of mammals and birds, with special attention to 
scientific classification. The skeleton of man, of other mam- 
mals and of birds. Text-book, same as in Sexta. 

Quarta : 2 hours. Summer — Comparative description of 
related plants and species, with special attention to various 
representatives of families of highly developed plants ( Um- 
hellifercB and Ooniposifw). Extension and classification of 
the "principles of morphology. Toward the end of the se- 
mester practice in plant analysis according to the Linn^ean 
system. AVinter — Comparative study of mammals and birds 
continued. Description of various representatives of reptiles, 
amphibians and fishes. Principles of the skeleton of verte- 
brates. Classification of vertebrates. Text-book, same as in 
Quinta. 

Untertertia : 2 hours. Summer — Comparative study of 
compound flowering plants, e.g., AmentacecB and Graw- 
inacecB. Characteristics of the most important families of 
uncultivated plants. Study of plant morphology continued. 
Study of plant growth. Analysis of plants. Winter — Com- 
parative study of the anatomy and growth of articulates. 
Characteristics of insect species Review of the system of 
vertebrates. Text-book, same as in Quarta, Teil II. 

Ohertertia : 2 hours. Summer — Study of gymnosperms 
and cryptogams, and the most important of cultivated foreign 
plants. Ex[)laiiation of the chief morphological, biological 
and anatomical characteristics of tlie same. Arrangement 
according to the natural system of all plants thus far studied. 
The simplest principles of plant distribution. Practice in 
plant analysis. Winter — Description of certain representa- 
tives of the lower animals. Eeview of all animals thus far 
studied, according to types and classes of the natural system. 
Fundamental principles of palaeontology. Text-book, same 
as in Untertertia. 

Untersecnnda : 2 hours. First semester — The anatomy and 
physiology of plants and animals continued and extended. 
Anthropology. Second semester — Physical and chemical 
peculiarities of water, air, fire and earth. Text-book, same 
as in Ohertertia, Teil III. 



INSTRUCTION IN THE NATURAL SCIENCES 335 

The instructions of the Prussian department of education 
emphasize observation and description of natural objects. 
The importance of accurate description is seen in the terms 
everywhere used in Prussia designating the first division 
of science work, Natiirhesclireihung ; the older designation, 
Naturgescliiclite, is still used in Hamburg and some of the 
southern states. 

A necessary prerequisite to observation and description is 
that the child shall have something to observe and describe. 
Specimens of plants may be put in the pupiFs 
hand for this purpose, and the entire work re- ^^^^^^^^^^"^ 
stricted to the class-room. Such a plan may 
give practice in description, but intelligent observation of 
nature can be taught only by going to nature herself. The 
structure of plants and animals may be learned in the class- 
room and laboratory ; but the significance of plant and animal 
life, the interdependence of the lower and higher orders and 
the influence of climate, soil and moisture upon all forms 
of life are to be seen only out-of-doors. For this purpose 
class excursions are usually arranged on half-holidays. The 
Konigstddtisches Gymnasium arranges for one excursion a 
week. Pupils of any class in natural history may take part, 
but the participation is optional. The success of the under- 
taking is entirely dependent upon the teacher. As may 
be imagined, some teachers have more followers than they can 
readily manage ; others, after making a few trials, conclude 
that field work is a farce. 

These excursions are generally of a half-day's duration, 
but in some schools there is a midsummer outing of a week 
or two. The pupils visit various places of in- 

. . ^ . ^ Class Excursions. 

terest pertaining to some particular study or 
line of work which they are about to begin. Geographical 
points are located, and historical events impressed upon the 
children's minds by perceiving the actual places of their oc- 
currence. Botany, zoology, geography, geology and miner- 
alogy are thus studied objectively, and much material is col- 
lected for use in the class-room. The appearance and habits 



336 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

of varions birds and animals are discovered by experience ; 
the life and habitat of many plants are made known ; and 
all this, scientifically conducted and explained by the teacher, 
serves not only to increase the knowledge but also the inter- 
est of the pupil in the pursuit of his studies. The main ob- 
ject, that of increasing the power of observation, is certainly 
accomplished. It is a difficult matter in the large cities to 
arrange for excursions far enough into the country to see na- 
ture at her best, but parks and zoological gardens offer a fair 
substitute. It must be said, however, that a trip through a 
city park does not furnish much material for class use. To 
offset this difficulty, many city schools have adopted the 
charming expedient of maintaining flower-gardens of their 
own. The children plant the seeds and tend their growth, 
labelling each specimen in true botanical fashion. I have 
observed, too, that in some of the smaller towns the schools 
have not only beautiful gardens of flowering plants, but min- 
iature parks, set out with trees and shrubs of rare beauty. A 
more effective means of awakening an interest in botany, I 
think, would be hard to devise. Here is a suggestion of what 
might be done with the spacious grounds of our American 
public schools. 

I have already spoken of the part played in instruction by 

the school museum. Considered as a means of elucidating 

obscure problems incident to class teaching. 

School Museums. , , n , • tit t , t • 

these collections are very valuable. In this 
respect some secondary schools rival the smaller universities. 
The danger is that, so long as somewhere in the school there 
is a chart, model or mounted specimen of each object studied 
in class, the museum will be drawn upon for its stores to the 
neglect of almost all field work. Precisely this state of af- 
fairs exists in the majority of schools that I have visited. My 
own experience would lead me to say that the average teacher 
relies almost exclusively upon accumulated stores of past 
years. While in theory each pupil is expected to have in 
his hands a specimen of all the common plants as they are 
discussed in class, I have seen the pea studied by a class of 



INSTRUCTION IN THE NATURAL SCIENCES 337 

thirty boys from a model that was not taken from the teacher's 
desk during the hour ; and at the close of the lesson not a 
v/ord was said about noting the plant in its cultivated state, 
although acres of it were growing within a mile of the site, 
but, on the contrary, the home task as assigned was to copy 
the drawing given in the text-book. I still have my doubts 
whether the majority of the class did not conceive of the true 
flower as being about a foot in diameter. 

Such an instance as the one just related is, of course, an 
extreme case. The teacher, if he had any object other than 
drawing his salary, was aiming at systematic botany. And, 
notwithstanding the efforts of recent years, many of the sci- 
ence teachers are still engaged in teaching botany and zo- 
ology, physics and chemistry. There is plenty of evidence 
of this in almost every school. Even the course of study 
outlined above seems to emphasize at every turn the syste- 
matic presentation of the subjects. In the last resort, we must 
turn to the methods employed in instruction rather than the 
material of the course in order to evaluate correctly the work 
in natural history. 

Observation, inference and description go hand in hand. 
Assuming that a class is provided with something to examine, 
it is a teacher's business to see that right ob- 
servations are made.' Nothing is gained by TelcMng^^ 
puzzling the child or allowing him to waste 
time and energy in a fruitless search for something he might 
find instantly if properly guided. As if anyone ever learned 
to see by groping in the dark ! | This conception of teaching 
is characteristically German. One of its principal advant- 
ages is that it permits the teacher to lead his pupils quickly 
and easily to an understanding of some general principle 
which might otherwise be misinterpreted or overlooked en- 
tirely. The course of study, therefore, outlines the general 
principles which are to be arrived at ; the teacher alone is 
responsible for the methods of procedure. 

I find among my notes a fairly typical lesson in zoology 
with boys of ten years of age (Quinta), The school is a pri- 



338 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

vate institution in central Germany ; the topic, " The Seal/^ 
The lesson opened with a review of the families of animals 

already studied, a few individuals being cited 
^^6^800*^ as characteristics of each group. Next followed 

a brief summary of the previous lesson, on the 
means of identifying animals by the teeth and skull. Speci- 
mens of these parts were distributed among the class^ and each 
boy was requested to name the animal to which his specimen 
belonged and state the grounds on which he based his infer- 
ence. Great interest was manifested in this part of the work, 
which was continued for about twenty minutes. 

The teacher next directed their attention to a finely 
mounted seal standing upon his desk. His questions ran 
somewhat as follows : ^^ What is it ? Who has seen one ? 
Where ? What did it do ? How long can it stay under 
water ? What does it do when it comes again to the surface ? 
How is it able to stay so long under water ? Why does it go 
under water ? What does it get there ? What else will it 
eat ? Will it eat fresh-water fish ? (Several boys are called 
up to examine its nose and feet.) What about his legs — 
number, shape — fingers, etc. ? How can it close its nostrils ? 
What can you say of its coat ? How does the fur lie ? What 
advantage is it to the animal ? How long are its whiskers ? 
What are they for ? How long is this seal ? (Boy measures 
it, and reports to class.) How broad ? What is the shape of 
its body ? AVhy does it not freeze in the ice-cold water ? 
Is the body of the living seal of the same temperature as the 
water ? What is the temperature of this room ? What is the 
temperature of your body ? What enables the seal to keep 
so warm amid such cold surroundings V 

From the trend of these questions, it is easy to infer the 
answers given by the class. In regard to the habits and 
habitat of the seal, the teacher had to supplement the knowl- 
edge of the class. The main purpose of the lesson, apparently, 
was to emphasize the difference in temperature between the 
animaFs body and its surroundings. The subject of food as- 
similation and oxidation of tissue was treated at length. The 



INSTRUCTION IN THE NATURAL SCIENCES 339 

recitation, measured both by the interest manifested by the 
pupils and the skill with which the teacher brought the les- 
son home to them, was a decided success. 

An essential part of the descriptive work in science is the 
making of a detail drawing of every object studied in class. 
In general, this is the only home task in science 
work. The care exercised in writing up the ''awing. 
note-books and in making the drawings is everywhere appar- 
ent ; sometimes, I suspect, teachers of doubtful ability cover 
up their own sins by fine displays of note-books on all public 
occasions. But, whatever the motive may be, it is certainly 
true that drawing is of most effective service in all science 
teaching. 

Laboratory work, as has been said, is practically unknown 
in natural history. The nearest approach to it is in plant 
analysis, but the methods employed preclude 
the possibility of independent work. The pro- ^ ^^^ "^^ 
cess is precisely the same as is followed in the solution of 
mathematical problems. Pupils are not given a number of 
specimens and told to work them out previous to the next 
lesson. Having learned inductively the main principles of 
the Linnaean system from the classification of individuals 
studied, this knowledge is applied in the process of identify- 
ing new specimens. The teacher asks for each of the essential 
characteristics. The responses of the class are based on strict 
observation of the specimen in hand. At each step the 
teacher reviews past observations and calls up the peculiarities 
of the various classes, orders and families. Under such 
leadership, it would be strange if any pupil should fail in 
identifying his specimen. Notwithstanding the great stress 
put upon observation and description in natural history, one 
is forced to the conclusion that there is little independent 
observation or unbiased description. 

There is something to be said for the teacher who is unable 
to make his work popular and successful. The residuum of 
many conversations with science teachers and others is to 
this effect : In the first place, the universities, where all sec- 



340 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

ondary teachers must get their training, give no heed what- 
soever to the needs of the schools. The sciences are taught 
in the most thorough and intensive manner 
Difficulties m pQggibie. In othcr words, the man who after 

Science Training, -t^ ,,.,.. 

five years of advanced study m the university, 
the greater part of the time devoted to independent research, 
can adapt himself to the needs of nine-year-old children is a 
genius. It is too much to expect of the average man till the 
university offers training courses for teachers. In the second 
place, the government, while apparently expecting field work 
from the fact that botany is regularly put in the summer 
semester, makes absolutely no provision for it and allows no 
credit for what may be done. It means, too, that teachers 
and pupils must give up their half -holidays to outside work. 
Furthermore, the government makes no allowance for the 
extra demands made upon the science teacher in the collection 
and preservation of material, the preparation of objects for 
demonstration and the supervision of the laboratory work ; 
he must put in full time — twenty to twenty-four hours a 
week — the same as his colleagues. And, finally, the excuse is 
often urged that in the Gymnasium the pupils feel it is of 
small consequence whether they are proficient in the sciences 
or not ; there is no final examination, and even the indolent 
and dullards will be promoted if only they know some Latin, 
Greek and German. The science teacher, especially if he 
be not cast in the classical mould, sometimes is made to feel 
that his social and professional standing is questionable. 

Such statements, though coming from thoughtful teachers, 
should not be regarded as the whole truth. It is unquestion- 
ably true that in some schools the teachers of 

Class Distinctions. . .^ ^ ^.„ . • t , , 

science belong to a dinerent social stratum 
from the other teachers ; but the accident of birth is the 
important factor. A gentleman may teach science and not 
lose caste. Germany is far from being a pure democracy, and 
social distinctions are not always obliterated by recognition 
of personal worth. On the other hand, there is just cause for 
complaint from gymnasial teachers when proficiency in other 



INSTRUCTION IN THE NATURAL SCIENCES 341 

subjects will secure a pupiFs promotion in science. This is a 
serious problem ; and, so long as the government leaves it un- 
solved, there can be no doubt that science is really considered 
a second or third-rate study. 

But after all the shortcomings in the teaching of natural 
history in the German schools are discovered, we are obliged to 
express high regard for what is accomplished 
by the leaders of the new movement. As a '^'''co^f ''^^ 
conspicuous instance of the acme of arrange- 
ment and method, I subjoin an outline of the course in nature 
study followed during the first two years in the Jena Gym- 
nashmi. It will be noted that the aim is not only to give 
the child information about nature, but to help him to see 
scientific facts in their interrelations. For this purpose 
nature study is closely correlated with Heimatskunde — that 
branch of study which aims to give the child an elementary 
knowledge of his home environment, physical and social. 
Side by side with the study of botany and zoology goes that 
of geography, history and the legendary tradition of the 
country. Few schools in Germany show such careful atten- 
tion to details, and have so successfully worked out the cor- 
relations with kindred subjects. 

Nature study in Sexta : ^ The local environment : (a) 
Surface elevations ; hills and valleys of the neighbourhood, 
(b) Water-courses and roads : formation of valleys. Neigh- 
bouring watersheds. Influence of the water-courses on the 
local industries ; grist-mills on the smaller streams ; city 
woollen mills on the Saale. Land, road and water-ways : 
paths, roads, highways, railroads, boating, rafting, (c) 
Climate of mountains and valleys. Influence of mountain 
and forest on atmosphere. Vegetation of mountain sides 
influenced by position, exposure, etc. (d) Plants and ani- 
mals : grasses cultivated for fodder (clover, lucerne, etc.), 
grains (wheat, rye, oats, barley, etc.), esculent plants, plants 
valuable for manufacturing purposes (flax, hops, etc.), garden 
fruits and wild flowers (violet, rose, bell-flower, sunflower, 

' See Program of the Jena Gymnasium^ 1891. 



342 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

crane's bill, etc.). Plant life : distribntion, habitat, depend- 
ence on soil, climate and animals — these facts to be pointed 
out and studied on the class excursions. The animals studied 
are as follows : bat, porcupine, mole, shrew-mouse, field- 
mouse, weasel, squirrel, swine, deer, horse, duck, goose, 
eagle, woodpecker, song-bird, common adder, lizard, frog, 
carp, honey-bee. May beetle and ant. Interdependence of 
animals and man. 

In Quinta the work is extended beyond the local environ- 
ment, but is conducted upon the same general principles. 
While the geography of Thuringia is being 
Nature study and g^^^^jig^j ^^^ ^amcs and location of the moun- 

Heimatskunde. ' 

tains, towns, valleys and river - courses are 
learned. In the lessons devoted exclusively to nature study, 
the influences of these natural phenomena upon the climate 
and industrial life of the people are emphasized. Special 
industries and natural resources of certain towns, as glass- 
blowing, the making of pottery, mining of iron and coal, hot 
springs, etc., are carefully explained, and, when possible, ex- 
cursions are made to the more accessible towns. The prod- 
ucts of the land, its flora and fauna, are studied in so far as 
it is a continuation of the work in Sexta. In a country so 
diversified as central Germany, it is possible to find types of 
the most common plants and animals within a radius of fifty 
or a hundred miles. The extensive mountain forests, with 
their well-stocked parks (game animals) and fertile valleys, 
afford abundant opportunity for elementary study of forestry 
and the more important agricultural industries. 

The excellent results obtained in the Jena Gymyiasium in 
some classes, and in some schools in all classes, lead me to 
infer that when the sciences are poorly taught the causes are 
not far to seek. ''Where there's a will there's a way'' is 
certainly true in respect of this subject, as of all others. The 
reason why most schools have no '' way " worth following is 
because there is no ''will" worth consideration. This is 
conspicuously true in the case of physics and chemistry in 
all Gymnasien, and with botany and zoology in not a few. 



INSTRUCTION IN THE NATURAL SCIENCES 343 

Thus far I have been considering chiefly the teaching of 
natural history in the first six years of the higher schools. 
Inasmuch as the age of the pupils in Sexta is between nine 
and ten years, the greater part of the course would corre- 
spond to the upper primary and grammar school course in 
American schools. The work in physics and chemistry in 
the German schools corresponds more nearly to our high- 
school standards. 

The following outline of the course in physics and chem- 
istry is from the program of the Konigstddtisches Realgym- 
nasimn, Berlin, 1895-1896 : 

Ul^TERSECUNDA. 

Physics, 3 hours. First semester : Frictional electricity, 
and phenomena out of the domain of magnetism and galvan- 
ic electricity. Acoustics and optics. Second 
semester : Mechanics of solid, liquid and ga- ^aM ChemisfrT^ 
seous bodies. General properties of matter. 
Parallelogram of forces and of motion. Laws of falling and 
vertically projected bodies. The simple machines. Text- 
book, Jochmann, Grmidriss der Experi7nental Physik. 

OBERSECUNDA. 

Physics, 3 hours. First semester : Magnetism and gal- 
vanic electricity. Second semester : Heat. Eepetition and 
extension of mechanics, especially of oblique projection and 
of central motion. Text-book, same as in Untersecunda. 

Chemistry, 2 hours. First semester : Discussion of the 
elements hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, chlorine, bromine, 
iodine, fluorine, in connection with experiments suitably se- 
lected. Foundation of the conception of element, compound, 
base, acid and salt. The law of Marriotte and Gay-Lussac 
[the gas law, PV = RT], the law of combination by weight 
and by volume [law of Gay-Lussac], the hypothesis of Avoga- 
dro, the molecule, the atom, valance. The regular [isometric] 
system (magnetite, rock-salt, fluor-spar), the quadratic [te- 
tragonal] system (cassiterite). Angle measurement with the 
goniometer, the solution of stoichiometrical problems. Sec- 
ond semester : Discussion of the elements sulphur, phos- 
phorus, arsenic, boron, carbon and silicon, with experiments. 



344 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

Extension of tlie crystallographic idea. The ortliorhombic 
and monoclinic systems (sulphur). Dimorphism, allotro- 
pism ; the rhombohedral system (calcite, quartz). Angle 
measurement with the goniometer. Solution of stoichiomet- 
rical problems. 

UI^TERPKIMA. 

Physics, 3 hours. First semester : Wave theory, acoustics 
and optics. Second semester : Mechanics. In both semes- 
ters, reviews and more thorough mathematical treatment of 
particular parts of the earlier work. Solution of problems. 
Text-book, same as in Untersecunda. (Physical laboratory 
exercises, 2 hours, optional.) 

Chemistry, 2 hours. First semester : Discussion of the 
elements potassium, sodium, calcium, barium, strontium and 
magnesium, with experiments. Vapour density. Volumetric 
analysis. Extension of the crystallographic idea (hemihe- 
drism, twinning, isomorphism, pseudomorphism ; the phys- 
ical ap2)earance of crystals). Manufacture of gunpowder ; 
production of salt, soda, chalk and gypsum. Angle meas- 
urement with the reflection goniometer. Solution of stoichi- 
ometrical problems. Second semester : Discussion of the 
elements of zinc, lead, iron, copper, manganese, cobalt, nickel, 
chromium. The law of Dulong and Petit. Extension of the 
crystallographic idea. The monoclinic system (green vitriol). 
The triclinic system (blue vitriol). Aletallurgy of ores of 
lead, zinc, iron and copper. Solution of stoichiometrical 
problems. Technological excursions. AYork in the chemical 
laboratory. Illustration of preparations. Qualitative anal- 
ysis by the '^wet" method. Blow-pipe analysis (^^dry"" 
method). Physical experiments important for chemistry. 

OBERPRIMA. 

Physics, 3 hours. First semester : Optics. Second semes- 
ter : Mechanics. In both semesters, reviews and more thor- 
ough discussion of parts of the earlier work, especially quan- 
titative determinations and methods of measurement. Text- 
book, same as above. (Physical laboratory exercises, 2 hours, 
optional.) 

Chemistry, 2 hours. First semester : Discussion of the 
elements tin, aluminum, antimony, bismuth, mercury, silver, 
gold, platinum, with experiments. Manufacture of alum. 
Periodicity of the elements. Solution of stoichiometrical 



INSTRUCTION IN THE NATURAL SCIENCES 345 

problems. Work in the chemical laboratory. Illustration 
of preparations. Some quantitative determinations. Volu- 
metric analysis. Second semester : Introduction to organic 
chemistry. Elementary (^^ ultimate ^^) analysis. Acids, al- 
cohols, aromatic substances, carbohydrates, fermentation, al- 
buminates, organic synthesis. Chemical theories. Manufact- 
ure of paper, starch and sugar. General view of the natural 
processes of the organic world (germination, food assimilation, 
respiration, decomposition, putrefaction). Solution of stoi- 
chiometrical problems. Technological excursions. (Work in 
the chemical laboratory. Illustrations of organic prepara- 
tions ; determination of sugar by chemical and optical meth- 
ods, % hours, optional.) 

This outline leaves little to be said on the subject-matter of 
instruction in physics and chemistry. The aim in the teach- 
ing of physics, as in natural history, is not so 
much acquaintance with a large number of ^Ja^schools^ 
facts as the cultivation of the pupil's ability to 
make accurate observations and the development of his 
logical powers, chiefly with reference to the causal relations 
existing between particular natural phenomena. In this re- 
spect the i?ea?-schools can show better results than the Oy7n- 
nasien. But in all schools the government emphasizes the 
need of scientific observation, confirmed and strengthened by 
a certain amount of formal practice. 

According to the Prussian syllabus of 1892, the course in 
physics is divided into two 23arts. The part first is intended to 
give the pupil some notion of the fundamental 
principles of the subject as exemplified in the 
ordinary and more familiar manifestations of nature ; it is 
concluded with Untersecunda. The continuation of the 
course aims to give those who may pass on to the university 
a more comprehensive understanding of physical laws and 
their applications. This division is in strict accord with a 
prevailing idea of the Berlin Conference, that those leaving 
school at sixteen should have as symmetrical training as it is 
possible to provide. Only the most important principles are 
taught in the first part of the course, and much stress is put 



346 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

upon the application of these to the practical affairs of every- 
day life.^ 

The advanced course is first of all a repetition and extension 
of the earlier work, and in the second place a more extended 
mathematical treatment of the subject. This latter phase 
of the work can be done successfully only in the Real-schools, 
inasmuch as the mathematics taught in most Gymnasien is in- 
sufficient for the purpose. The Realgymnasium of Weimar, 
for example, provides a special course in mathematics during 
the last two years devoted exclusively to mechanics. Particu- 
lar attention is given to mathematical geography and the ele- 
ments of astronomy. 

It is only in the Oherrealschulen that a separate course in 
chemistry is given in Ufitersecumla. Other schools are re- 
quested to present a few important chemical 
emis ry. f^^^^^ j^ Connection with the study of galvanic 
electricity. At best, but little can be done. Organic chem- 
istry and its applications are practically untouched in all 
schools ; any consideration whatever of the subject must be 
purely incidental, and confined to those processes of greatest 
practical importance. 

Stoichiometry is the one branch of chemistry which is thor- 
oughly taught, and it is the mathematical treatment of this 
branch which receives most attention. Mineralogy is a side 
issue ; so far as I have observed, it amounts to little more 
than a formal study of crystallography. 

A text-book is always employed in teaching physics and 
chemistry, precisely in the same manner as in teaching nat- 
ural history. But, unlike the methods com- 

Text-Books 

monly found in American and English schools, 
German teachers invariably use these books for reference 
only. It is not expected, however, that they will take the 
place of the elaborate compendiums found in each school- 
room ; they are mere outlines of the subject, intended to as- 

' Full information of what may be accomplished in this preliminary 
course may be found in the Zeitschrift fur den physiJcalischen und chemi- 
schen Uhterricht^ Jahrgang F., Heft 4 (April, 1892). 



INSTRUCTION IN THE NATURAL SCIENCES 347 

sist the pupil in making scientific classifications, not for pur- 
poses of recitation. In fact, as we have repeatedly observed, 
the German teacher never assigns a lesson in advance to be 
studied out at home. Recitations, therefore, at least in the 
American sense, are unknown. 

A typical lesson always includes a review of the principles 
and experiments of past lessons which have a direct bear- 
ing upon what is next to be presented. The 
teacher explains the nature of the apparatus TeacWn^^ 
with which he is to deal, and places it upon his 
desk in full view of the entire class. (It may be observed, in 
passing, that school-houses of recent construction have a lect- 
ure-room for the classes in physics and chemistry in which 
the seats are elevated, generally in a semicircle about the 
teacher's desk.) Certain conditions are stated, and the class 
questioned as to what results may reasonably be expected. 
This preliminary discussion having carefully prepared the 
way for a right understanding of the experiment, the demon- 
stration by the teacher follows. The students are required 
to make note of the apparatus used, the principles involved, 
the conditions under which the reaction occurred and the 
results obtained. By means of a running fire of questions, the 
teacher keeps himself informed in regard to the mental state 
of his class ; for it is his duty to see not only that all under- 
stand the trend of the experiment, but also that its signifi- 
cance is realized. 

German practice is always consistent in its adherence to 
the idea that good teaching never leaves the pupil in doubt. 
In mathematics he is not assigned a problem to 
wrestle with by himself alone ; in the early days pemo^nration. 
of his language study all the translations are 
made in class ; and even in natural history we have seen how 
he is guided, step by step, first in making his observations 
and then in describing what he has discovered. 

We observe the same facts in the prevailing methods of 
teaching physics and chemistry. Every principle worth 
demonstrating is illustrated in class. But the teacher does 



348 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

more than demonstrate ; he teaches as well. And successful 
teaching requires that present impressions be definitely re- 
lated to past experiences. Wrong relationships, or none at 
all, are an inevitable consequence of misapprehension. For 
this reason the German teacher counts it his duty to prevent 
his students drawing wrong inferences. They have not yet 
arrived at the stage of independent study ; that comes in the 
university. In the secondary schools no time should be wasted 
in beating about the bush. The ability to make an occasional 
lucky guess is in nowise identical with sustained logical 
thought. 

At the conclusion of a lesson topic, the pupil is directed to 
consult his text-book and afterward write up his notes. This 
done, the teacher inspects the book at his leisure. 

Laboratory exercises, if required at all, are introduced at 

this point, in order that students may themselves duplicate 

the experiment performed by the teacher or 

Laboratoiy Work. ,1 . - -• l^- ^ 4.- 1 

make other demonstrations putting to practical 
test the knowledge just acquired. The function of laboratory 
practice, as will be seen, is to make application of facta 
already learned, not at all for the purpose of presenting new 
truths or arriving at new deductions. Inasmuch as laboratory 
practice is optional, and the exigencies of the time-card 
usually place it out of school hours, few students enter 
for it. 

No harm is done, however, if only a part of the class avail 
themselves of the opportunity. They learn something there- 
by, to be sure ; but their previous knowledge is intensified 
rather than extended. In other words, the certainty of pro- 
motion is not jeopardized by failure to elect the laboratory 
course. 

Probably the best adducible evidence of the relative value 

of the various studies, as popularly estimated, is the part each 

plays in the final examination. Judged in this 

Examinations ^^1 ' ^^^^ sciciices take low rank. Physics may 

be counted as a fourth part of mathematics in 

the gymnasial examination ; in the i^e^^schools, one problem 



INSTRUCTION IN THE NATURAL SCIENCES 849 

is assigned in physics and one in chemistry. ^ The worst of it 
is that ^^ nothing short of a miracle/' to quote a German 
teacher, *^^can prevent the promotion of the most deficient 
member of the class, provided his attainments be satisfactory 
in other subjects/' 

In conclusion, it need hardly be said that the teaching of 
science in the German secondary schools is intended primarily 
to provide formal discipline of the powers of observation, of 
logical thought and accurate description. Evidence is not 
wanting to show that the sciences are not taught as distinct 

' The problems in science assigned at the Ahiturientenpriifung in the 
Konigstadtisches Realgymnasium^ Berlin, were as follows : 

Physics^ Michaelmas, 1895. " To determine the internal resistance of 
a Bunsen battery cell, the following experiments are made : 

" (a) In one arm of a Wheatstone's bridge a resistance of one ohm is in- 
serted ; in the other arm, a rheostat. The galvanometer needle shows no 
deviation when the rheostat resistance, Ti—4:.o turns of the wire. 

" (6) There is now introduced into one arm of the bridge a copper wire 
whose length, 1 = 9.8 meters, and Avhose thickness, d=l millimeter; and 
again in the other arm, the rheostat. The galvanometer needle now 
shows no deviation when the rheostat resistance, r2=0.84 turns of the 
wire. 

" (c) Through the same copper wire, and through a tangent galvanometer 
(joined in series), a current is led by means of the Bunsen cell under 
investigation. The needle of the tangent-galvanometer now shows a devia- 
tion, ai = 17° 30'. 

" {d) A second and like Bunsen cell is now introduced into the circuit in 
series with the first. The needle now shows a deviation, a2=25°. 

" How great, according to these experiments, is the internal resistance 
of a Bunsen cell ? 

" Further, how great, according to the experimental results obtained, is 
the specific resistance of copper ? 

" The above experiments — especially the arrangement and mode of oper- 
ation of the Wheatstone's bridge — are to be described and explained by 
means of a simple diagrammatic figure." 

Chemistry^ Easter, 189G. "The description of the most important 
chemical and crystallographic properties of silicic acid, and the explana- 
tion of its importance in the plant and animal kingdoms, Avith some ex- 
amples." 



350 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

subjects, but as a means of assisting the individual to a more 
complete realization of liis environment. Pedagogic writers 
emphasize repeatedly the futility of attempting 
^rincMeT^ to givc the preparatory student a thorough 
knowledge of the principles even of a single 
science ; this is the work of the university. The aim of 
the secondary schools should be to provide such training 
as will enable the student when he enters upon his university 
career to begin the study of any science intelligently. In 
other words, an understanding of the relations existing be- 
tween sciences is of more worth than an extensive knowledge 
of any one. Therefore, the principles of biology and of 
physics, properly taught, are the sole requisite for entrance 
upon university work. The physical conditions under which 
life develops are an important accessory to the study of bi- 
ology, and the principles of chemistry supplement advanta- 
geously the teachings of physics. 

The presence of laboratories well equipped for individual 
work, and supported by annual appropriations, in most Ger- 
man schools, shows that the present method of 

Recent Tendencies. . , , . . .... , . 

science teaching is a reaction against earlier no- 
tions concerning the function of laboratory practice. So long 
as the aim was to teach the sciences per se, laboratory work 
was necessary for each individual ; but with the advent of the 
idea that the sciences are no more to be considered independ- 
ent studies than other subjects of the curriculum, and that 
mental development of the pupil is of more consequence than 
definite information in any one subject, class instruction at 
once comes into the foreground. Laboratory work is still 
counted an exercise of great value, but its aim is to facili- 
tate application rather than to jDromote individ- 
Vaiue of ^^j investigation. The risrht use of the induc- 

Laboratory. ° ° 

tive method by no means shifts the responsibility 
from the teacher to the puj^il. The teacher must do even 
more teaching ; in fact, the pupil can be more safely trusted 
to work independently along deductive lines than inductive. 
But as I have repeatedly cautioned the reader not to confound 



IN8TRU0TI0N IN THE NATURAL SCIENCES 351 

class instruction with the hearing of a recitation, no one will 
identify the German method of teaching science with certain 
practices well-nigh universal in America. 

We may criticise the methods of the German teacher liow 
we will ; we may disapprove of his selection of subject-matter, 
liis apparatus, laboratory and text-book ; and 

. n J, . • ii 1 •, Results Attained. 

especuuly we may reiuse to recognise the legit- 
imacy of his aim and the worth of his ideals ; and yet, when 
all is said, the German teacher has some convincing arguments 
in store. He can point triumphantly to a long line of Ger- 
man scientists, once his pupils. He will tell us that all stu- 
dents entering the university are familiar with at least the 
elements of physical and biological science ; that this work has 
been an integral part of their school training for nine years ; 
that the classical students are broadened by contact with the 
real studies, and that the scientific men are more liberal for 
having included the humanities in their education. The 
clinching argument, however — an argument convincing at 
least to the commercial world — is that the marvellous indus- 
trial progress of Germany in the last quarter-century is due 
ultimately to the superior skill and wisdom of the German 
scientists. England to-day — witness the recent action of the 
government in promoting the teaching of science and the res- 
olutions of learned societies and trade-unions — is assured tliat 
the preservation of her supremacy in the markets of the world 
is largely dependent on her ability to train up such scientists 
as now direct the development of the industrial arts in Ger- 
many. 

General Refekences :— Rossmassler, Ber naturwissenschaftliche Tin- 
terricht^ Leipsic, 1860 ; Loew, Die Stellung der Schule zu naturw. Uh- 
terricht^ Berlin, 1874 ; Schwalbe, Geschichte und Stand der Methodik in 
den Naturwissenschaften^ Berlin, 1877 ; Baenitz, Der naturw. Unierricht 
an gehoh. Lehranstalten^ Berlin, 2d ed., 1882; Zwick, Der naturw. Unter 
7'i'c^/, Berlin, 2d ed , 1884; Piltz, Aufgahen iind Fragen fur Naturheo- 
bachtnng^ Weimar^ 3d ed., 1887; Zeitschrift filr den physikalischen und 
chemischen UnterricM., Berlin ; Banmeister, Handhuch^ Vol. IV. ; Encyclo- 
pedias of Schmid and Rein ; Schiller, Praktische Pddagogik. 



CHAPTER XVIII 

THE PROFESSIONAL TRAINING OF TEACHERS 

Teaching lias been a profession in Germany since the 
close of the Napoleonic wars. The first decade of the cen- 
tury marks the turning-jjoint from the old re- 
Profession //''^''^ to the new. U}) to that time the teachers 
had been either novices awaiting holy orders or 
one-legged veterans unfitted for further military service. At 
least, such instances were sufficiently numerous to give the 
impression that the schools were philanthropic institutions, 
designed chiefly to afford employment to those who might 
otherwise become public charges. 

Early in the seventeenth century Ratke and Comenius had 
urged the necessity of having trained teachers in the schools. 
In 1707 Francke established the Seminarium 
Dwdopme^nt ^^^f^ctmii prcBceptorum in Halle — the outgrowth 
of several years of trial in the training of teach- 
ers ; and under his influence more than a thousand Volks- 
scUulen were created in Prussia by Frederick AVilliam I., and 
placed under teachers nominated, as far as possible, by 
Francke himself. Under Frederick the Great the policy of 
securing trained teachers for the elementary schools was ad- 
hered to, and teachers' seminaries became a necessary part of 
the public school system. The next important step was 
taken in 1763, when Frederick the Great ordered that all teach- 
ers should be required to pass a state examination in certain 
specified subjects, and that only those persons who had been 
trained in the Berlin Seminary should be eligible for ap- 
pointment as teachers in elementary schools supported by the 

353 



THE PROFESSIONAL TRAINING OF TEACHERS 353 

crown. It is certain that the regulations of Frederick the 
Great made a great advance in the condition of the public 
schools and in the position of the teachers ; but, so long as 
there were non-public schools, many of them entirely re- 
moved from government influence, whose teachers were ap- 
pointed by the church or private patrons, there could be no 
standards applicable to all. It was the Allgemeine Landreclit 
of 1794 that finally declared all schools to be state institu- 
tions, and at all times subject to the inspection and examina- 
tion of the state. 

The complete secularization of the secondary schools fol- 
lowed tardily after the emancipation of the elementary 
schools from ecclesiastical control. Appli- separation of 
cants for positions in the higher schools were school and 
required to show their fitness by examination hurch. 

or otherwise even prior to 1790, but the clergy still main- 
tained the upper hand. In 1779 Frederick the Great struck 
the first serious blow at clerical influence ; he decreed that 
henceforth '^ philosophy should be taught in the higher 
schools only by laymen." All during the century able school- 
masters had been trained in the Seminarium in Halle, and 
they were men of influence in the state. Many students of 
Gottingen, between the years 1735 and 1775, fell under the 
spell of Gesner and Heyne, and thereby grew into enthusi- 
astic teachers of the classics. Indeed, the Zeitgeist of the 
last half of the eighteenth century was decidedly helpful in 
promoting an interest in the work of the classical schools for 
its own sake ; and just as the work of the schools was appre- 
ciated for its own sake did the social rank of the teachers rise 
in importance. But still it was lamentably true that the ex- 
amination for teachers' certificates was the examination for 
holy orders. 

The death of Frederick the Great, in 1786, left many of 
his plans for the improvement of the higher schools unfin- 
ished. His successor, however, established in the first year 
of his reign an Oherschulcollegium, which was given the 
supervision of secondary education in the kingdom. A year 

23 



354 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

later, in 1788, it was decreed that students should take a final 

examination on leaving the Oymnasien ; in 1812 the require- 

workof nient was made obligatory and universal. In 

Frederick the tliis waj the government ascertained the qual- 
Great. ^^^ ^£ Secondary - scliool work, but students 
might enter the university and study for the learned profes- 
sions whether they passed this examination or not. Indeed, 
not till 1834 was it finally settled that the certificate of grad- 
uation from a higher school was an essential prerequisite for 
admission to the university, and eventually to the professions 
and the higher grades of the civil service. 

By the establishment of the OherscliidcoUeg lum the church 
was deprived of some important prerogatives ; still others 
were taken away by the jillgemeine Landrecht 
aid Humbow? ^^ ^^^^ ^ ^"^ *^® Complete emancipation of the 
teacher from ecclesiastical control was secured 
in 1810, by an order requiring of all intending teachers in the 
higher schools an examination separate and distinct from the 
examination for admission to holy orders. However easy 
the step might be for a theological student to become a 
higher-school teacher, yet it was a stej^ that he had to take ; 
and he had to take it just as other candidates did — by exam- 
ination before a board of teachers. Then teaching became a 
profession, and the teacher a highly honoured member of the 
civil service. Every subsequent enactment has been to in- 
crease the dignity of the profession, and to make its honours 
more difficult of attainment. Every decade has seen some 
additional requirement made of those who would enter the 
ranks ; and with every decade there have come increased 
emoluments and social advantages of a nature to invite 
service. The result is the best equipped and most exclusive 
body of teachers in the world. 

One of the striking peculiarities of German social life, as 
viewed from the American stand-point, is that the average 
boy in his teens, or even earlier, knows precisely Avhat his 
life work is to be. Long before he leaves school he begins 
to shape his course for the profession that he has in view ; 



THE PROFESSIONAL TRAINING OF TEACHERS 355 

indeed, it is probable that the most important decision of his 

life is made when he enters school at nine years of age. And 

with each succeeding school year the range of 

possible choices steadily diminishes. It is im- Profession 

portant, therefore, that parents early decide 

upon the course of study best suited to their children, and 

that the children themselves fully realize the bearing of their 

school work on their subsequent careers. 

The student of the Gymnasium knows that he has the 
privilege, among others, of preparing himself for any position 
in the higher schools : the graduate of the Real- 

Privileges. 

gymnasium may become a teacher of the mod- 
ern languages, mathematics or the natural sciences ; and but 
recently the privilege of becoming a teacher of mathematics 
and the natural sciences has been conferred on graduates of 
the Oberrealschule. 

The professional training of the higher-school teacher 
really begins with the university course. Although gradu- 
ation from a higher school is an essential pre- 
requisite, it is only in the university that he ^^study^^ 
gets the special training required of all candi- 
dates for positions in the secondary schools. The minimum 
course in the university, as required in most German states, 
is set at three years ; but four or five years are nearer the 
average. The student, on coming up to the university, 
knows full Avell what profession he is to follow ; and the in- 
tending teacher has his specialties already in mind. In gen- 
eral, the greater part of his work is directed to those subjects 
which he expects to teach, or, better, to those subjects in 
which he will later be examined. But there is no prescribed 
course which he is bound to follow. For a year or two he 
follows his own personal inclinations, without overmuch 
thought of the future — sometimes without overmuch atten- 
tion even to the present. In time, however, he falls into the 
routine which invariably marks the preparation for the state 
examination. 

The Staats-Examen is the sole test of a candidate's prepara- 



356 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

tion for any professional career. Neither the degree of doctor 
of philosopliy, nor any other schohirly distinction, can ex- 
empt him from the necessity of proving himself 
Exam^ation t)efore a state board of examiners. In the 
smaller German states these boards are gen- 
erally located at the capital or in the university towns ; some 
states have none at all, having delegated their prerogatives to 
the boards of adjoining states. Prussia maintains ten ex- 
amining boards for the higher-school service, called Wisse7i- 
schaftUche Prilfiings-Comiiiissionen. The majority of the 
members of these boards are university professors ; but there 
are usually a few prominent secondary-school men and ad- 
ministrative officers of the department of education among 
the members. They are appointed annually by the minister 
of education, but in practice there are few changes for years 
together. There is no prescribed number of members, ex- 
cept that there must be at least one examiner for every sub- 
ject that a candidate may offer ; this means, as a rule, from 
twenty to thirty persons. 

The aim of the state examination is to test (1) the aj^pli- 
cant's proficiency in pedagogy and philosophy, including 
psychology, logic and ethics ; (2) his familiar- 
ity with the German language and literature ; 

(3) his acquaintance with the doctrines of his religion, and 

(4) his knowledge of the subjects which he expects to teach. 
In all these lines, possibly excepting religion, he will have 
had special training under university professors. In philos- 
ophy and pedagogy, in German and in religion, the require- 
ments are of a general nature, intended to disclose the a2:)pli- 
canVs breadth of training and the nature of his religious 
faith ; it is the fourth requirement that constitutes the crux 
of the examination. 

A certificate based upon the state examination does not 
by any means permit the holder to teach what he will any- 
where he gets the chance. Under the Prussian system, a 
teacher, in addition to the requirements above mentioned, 
must be qualified in at least four subjects or their equiva- 



THE PROFESSIONAL TRAINING OF TEACHERS 357 

lents, and he must not presume to teach anything in which 
he is not properly certificated. Furthermore, he may not 
teach those subjects in which he is certificated 
beyond a certain class, that class being deter- c'^Sfi'^T' 
mined by the grade of his certificate. Three 
grades are recognised ; these correspond to the three general 
divisions — upper, middle and lower — of the higher schools. 
A first-grade certificate in any subject is good for any class 
in a nine-year school ; a second-grade is good for all classes 
below the three highest ; a third-grade is good only for the 
lower classes. Third-grade certificates are granted only in 
those subjects which are taught in the higher schools the 
full nine years. Thus, in Latin, German, French, religion, 
history, mathematics and geography certificates may be of 
the first, second or third grade ; in Greek, English, Hebrew, 
Polish, Danish, physics, chemistry and mineralogy, botany 
and zoology, of the first or second grade. Applicants for cer- 
tificates may enter, under certain restrictions, for any subject 
and any grade in that subject. 

The subjects which are taught in the higher schools — 
therefore those in which state examinations may be taken — 
are classed in two general groups : the lan- 
guage-history group, and the science-mathe- Examination, 
matics group. The former includes German, 
Latin, Greek, French, English and history ; the latter in- 
cludes mathematics, physics, chemistry and mineralogy, 
botany and zoology ; geography of the first or second grade 
may be classed in either group. Hebrew, Polish, Danish 
and religion are extra subjects, properly belonging to the first 
group. Of the four subjects in which every teacher is ex- 
amined, the first two are known as majors {Hauptfdclier) — 
those which he prefers to teach ; the other two are minors 
{Nehenfdclier). Now, in order that the most favourable com- 
binations may be made — favourable both for the schools and 
the teachers' scholarship — certain restrictions are placed upon 
a free choice. The most important are the following : (1) 
both majors and one minor must be of the same group ; (2) 



358 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

first-grade Latin goes with second-grade Greek, and second- 
grade Latin with first-grade Greek ; (3) first-grade mathe- 
matics takes second-grade physics ; (4) third-grade Latin is 
required with any grade of French or English ; (5) third-grade 
geography must be taken with any grade in history ; (6) a 
major in religion takes Hebrew as its accompanying major. 
Geography, placed, as it is, in both groups, is always a pop- 
ular minor ; it may also be counted a major in either group. 

The university student avIio looks forward to teaching as 
a profession early selects the combination of subjects which 
he prefers to teach, or which is likely to bring 
^e^rees^ most rapid promotion. To these subjects he 
gives his main attention for three to five years. 
If he can afford the luxury of taking his Ph.D. — it costs 
from one hundred to two hundred dollars and a good deal of 
time — he will, in the meantime, write a dissertation and be 
examined on three of his four subjects. That the degree is 
looked upon as a luxury, and one that can be easily diispeused 
with, is evidenced from the fact that less than one-half of 
the Prussian teachers have taken the pains to secure it. The 
Staats-Examen is not only more difficult, but more honour- 
able, because obligatory. 

There are in Prussia ten State Examination Commissions,^ 
located in the university towns. An applicant for examina- 
tion cannot come before any of these at will. 

Examination jj^ ^^^^^^^ ^j ^| commissiou (1) of the 

Commissions. ... . . 

province in which he was born or in which he 
resides, or (2) of the province in Avhich the university is situ- 
ated where he has spent at least two semesters, including the 
last, or (3) of the province in which he expects to teach. All 
foreigners, including residents of other German states, must 
secure the endorsement of the minister of education to their 
application. 

* East and West Prussia, at Konigsberg ; Brandenburg, at Berlin ; Pora- 
erania, at Greif swald ; Posen and Silesia, at Breslau ; Saxony, at Halle ; 
Schleswick-Holstein, at Kiel; Hanover, at Gottingen; Westphalia, at 
Miinster; Hesse-Nassau, at Marburg; Rhine province, at Bonn. 



THE PROFESSIONAL TRAINING OF TEACHERS 359 

The application itself is a serious affair. First there is the 
fee to be paid, which amounts to $7.50 (30 m.) for each ex- 
amination and re-examination ; 13. 75 (15 m.) for 
each supplementary and extension examination. ^PP^i^^t^on ^o^' 

-'-■'■ '^ Examination. 

Then there are the certificates and testimonials 
of the applicant's higher-school course and his university 
training, without which no one can hope to be admitted, un- 
less by special order of the minister. These papers show 
precisely what he has done, and how well he has succeeded 
since he entered school at nine years of age. Next he 
makes known his combination of subjects which he elects as 
majors and minors, and the grade of examination which he 
desires in each. In his Vita, which is next in order, the ap- 
plicant tells who he is, when he was born, what the rank or 
occupation of his father is, of what church he is an ad- 
herent, and, finally, he calls attention to special points in 
his preparation and any noteworthy work that he may have 
done. This sketch of his life must be written in Latin, if 
the applicant's major subjects are the classical languages ; if 
they are the modern languages, it must be in French or Eng- 
lish; in all other cases it is optional whether it be in German 
or a foreign language. 

After review of the application thus made, the commission- 
ers decide upon admission to the examination. If the appli- 
cant's preparation seems faulty, they advise him 

, , , ,1 . • -^ . 1 1 Admission. 

not to attempt the examination ; it they have 
serious doubts as to his moral character, if they suspect him 
of being disloyal in religion or politics, they may refuse his 
application altogether, in which case an appeal may be taken 
to the minister — if the applicant doesn't mind courting al- 
most sure defeat. If his credentials are acceptable, however, 
he is soon notified when to appear for examination. 

The examination is both oral and written. The written 
test comes first, and consists in the writing of elaborate essays 
on themes assigned by the commission. One theme is on 
some topic in philosophy or pedagogy, and is designed to 
test the candidate's knowledge of the philosophical basis of 



360 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

pedagogy and didactics, and of the development of educa- 
tional thought since the sixteenth century. The applications 
of modern psychology to teaching are fruitful 
Conduct of themes for such essays. The candidate must 

Examination. ^ 

also write essays on themes selected from each of 
his major subjects. AVhen one essay will include both major 
subjects, the two may be combined, as frequently happens in 
classical and modern philology, physics and mathematics, 
history and geography, etc. If the applicant has published 
something of note, as, for instance, a dissertation for the de- 
gree of doctor of philosophy, it may be offered as a substitute 
for one of tlie essays. Essays that deal with a classical lan- 
guage must be written in Latin ; with the modern languages, 
in French or English, as the case may be ; and with all other 
subjects, in German. Six weeks are allowed for the prepara- 
tion of each essay, and the commission is empowered to grant 
an extension of six weeks — making twelve weeks in all, if 
necessary, on the subject. Any further extension must be 
authorized by the minister. 

At the expiration of the time allowed the essay is forward- 
ed to the chairman of the commission, together with a com- 
plete bibliography of references consulted, and 
a declaration by the candidate that he has re- 
ceived no personal assistance in the preparation of the essay. 
A false declaration would disqualify a candidate for further 
examination ; if the fraud were not detected till after the 
certificate had been granted, disciplinary proceedings would 
be instituted as against any other state official. If the essays 
are not comprehensive enough to satisfy the commission of 
the candidate's breadth of scholarship, supplementary tests 
may be required by way of short written examinations or 
laboratory work. Thus the candidate shows his familiarity 
with the literature of his subjects and demonstrates his abil- 
ity to do independent work. 

If now the written examination satisfies the commission, 
and the candidate appears not to be an atheist or a socialist, 
a day is set for the oral examination. It is an open secret that 



THE PROFESSIONAL TRAINING OF TEACHERS 361 

few Jews reach this stage, no matter what their qualifications 
may be ; and those who do succeed in overcoming all prelimi- 
nary hindrances are, nevertheless, quietly dis- 
posed of at a later stage in a way to minimize 
their influence. The Prussian examination system, as act- 
ually conducted, is designed primarily to keep undesirable 
persons out of the profession ; there are many requirements 
that would not be made if the sole object were to secure the 
best teachers. 

The oral examination is intended to test the general cult- 
ure of the candidate and his ready command of philosophy 
and pedagogy, and to ascertain his fitness to teach his chosen 
subjects in a higher school. The examination in each sub- 
ject is conducted by a specially appointed examiner, in the 
presence of other members of the commission. Candidates 
for first-grade certificates in Latin or English, or for first or 
second-grades in French, must use the respective languages 
in examination, at least to the extent of showing a ready 
command of the spoken forms. Thus the candidate shows 
what he knows as well as what he can do. 

The oral test concludes the examination. The commission- 
ers now decide whether the total examination has been satis- 
factory or not. If any part is unsatisfactory, 
no certificate is granted ; but, instead, a testi- ce^rtmcate 
monial is issued to the candidate, which spec- 
ifies the exact results attained in each subject, the grade 
secured in all subjects that were passed, and the day (never 
within six months) when the candidate may come up for 
re-examination. The second trial is his last, if he again fails 
to meet the minimum requirements. 

The successful candidate not only receives a certificate of 
fitness to teach (facultas docendi) certain subjects in spec- 
ified classes ; but his certificate is ranked ac- 
cording to the grades he holds in the various cSmcate 
subjects in which he is examined. A first-rank 
certificate, which renders the holder eligible at some future 
time for appointment to the position of head-teacher, with 



362 GERMAN HIOHEE SCHOOLS 

the title of professor, indicates that the holder has secured 
upon examination either two majors of first-grade and two 
minors of second-grade, or two majors and one minor of first- 
grade. A second-rank certificate, which entitles the holder 
to the position of ordinary teacher (Oberlehrer), indicates the 
possession of two majors and one minor of second-grade and 
one minor of third-grade. In other words, the person hold- 
ing a first-rank certificate is entitled to teach (1) two subjects 
in all classes and other two subjects in the lower six classes, 
or (2) three subjects througli all nine years of the higher 
scliools. The second-rank certificate entitles the holder to 
teach three subjects through the first six years, and one 
subject through the first three years. A certificate of the 
second rank, therefore, excludes the holder from teaching 
in the three highest classes of the higher schools, and denies 
him the honour reserved for head-teachers. 

If the candidate has been successful in both majors, but 
has failed in his minors, he may be granted a second-rank 
certificate on condition that he secure by supplementary ex- 
amination second-grade in both minors or first-grade in one. 
Such deficiency must be made up within three years from 
the date of the first examination. Supplementary examina- 
tions must be taken before the same commission as was the 
first examination, unless the minister of education gives the 
candidate permission to apply elsewhere. Only one such ex- 
amination is permitted. 

It will be seen that a teacher's chances of securing a posi- 
tion are limited (1) by the subjects in which he is certificated 
and (2) by the rank of his total certificate. 
G^Me anTiiank ^^^ Unfortunate combination of subjects often 
seriously interferes with tlie promotion of a 
candidate. It happens, therefore, that many teachers seek 
to qualify themselves in as many subjects as possible, and to 
secure the highest grades in each. Such persons are per- 
mitted to take two extension examinations before the com- 
missions by which they were first examined, or before the 
commissions of the provinces in which they are teaching. 



THE PROFESSIONAL TRAINING OF TEACHERS 3G3 

The second extension examination closes the door on further 
opportunity. The limit is practically fixed at four or five 
first-grade certificates ; few teachers, in fact, ever secure 
more than three. The only incentive to add to the number 
of privileges is that thereby an appointment may possibly be 
secured a year or two earlier. The game is hardly worth the 
candle. 

The intending teacher, even with his certificate in his hand, 
has yet other gauntlets to run. The certificate of itself con- 
fers no right to teach. Something more than 
general culture and minute scholarship is re- "^TrXki^^^ 
quired. It is safe to say that Germany owes 
more to the pedagogical training of her teachers than to any 
other factor in their preparation. It is the professional 
spirit, which every German teacher feels, that differentiates 
him from his species in other countries, and this spirit is tlie 
result chiefly of his pedagogical training. 

When the examination jt?ro/rtc«//rt/e doce7icliwiis first estab- 
lished, in 1810, it was specified that all candidates should 
demonstrate their ability to teach by ffivinff a 

• • 1. 1 rrf- 1 Early Attempts. 

lesson beiore the exammmg board. This plan 
was soon found to be impracticable ; few candidates conld 
make a respectable showing. Afterward the trial lesson was 
given in private before a school inspector, but even this was 
unsatisfactory. Consequently, in 182G the Prussian govern- 
ment introduced the plan, which has since been adopted by 
all the German states except Wiirtemberg, of requiring all 
candidates, after the completion of the exam- „ . , ^ 

■^ Trial Lesson. 

ination pro facilitate doceyidi to spend a year 
as trial teacher {Prohe-Candidat) in some approved higher 
school. The Prohejahr, as we learn from a ministerial re- 
script of 1867, was intended to give the intending teacher 
an opportunity to familiarize himself with the duties of his 
future office, and to prove to the satisfaction of the school 
authorities that he had the practical ability requisite for a 
successful teacher. Candidates were expected to teach six or 
eight hours a week under the immediate supei'vision of the 



364 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

director or head- teachers of the school. Besides this, there 
were special requirements concerning the visiting of classes 
taught by the regular teachers, preparation of lessons, super- 
vision of scholars, attendance at examinations and teachers' 
conferences and participation in all the practical workings 
of the school. 

The Prohejalir proved in time to be insufficient for the de- 
mands placed upon it. Too many candidates were seeking 
appointment to the higher schools. Something 
had to be done to shut out undesirable persons, 
and at the same time to raise the standards of professional 
attainments. In point of didactic skill it was recognised 
that the elementary teachers trained in the normal schools 
{Lelirersemiyiarien) were distinctly superior to the teachers of 
the secondary schools. It was decided, therefore, to lengthen 
the term of practical training rather than to increase the 
scholastic requirements. Following the example of Hesse, it 
was decreed in 1890 that intending teachers in the higher 
schools of Prussia should have two years of 
pedagogical training instead of one. The last 
year was to remain much as before, and still to be known as 
the Prohejalir. The first year of practical training, following 
directly after the state examination, was intended to bridge 
over the gulf between the university and actual school work. 
Candidates were to be assigned to Seminarien, where they 
might have the advantage of superior instruction in the 
art of applying the general principles of education — already 
studied in the university — to the practical problems of the 
secondary schools. The bulk of the work was expected to 
be theoretical, but always to be presented with a view to its 
practical application. 

Such are the specific requirements at the present time of 

all intending higher-school teachers in Prussia : nine years a 

pupil in a higher school, four years of univer- 

Req^iTrJments. ^^^^ study, ouc year in examination, one Se7ni- 

narjalir, and one Prohejalir. If to this we add 

the year of military service, which all able-bodied men must 



THE PROFESSIONAL TRAINING OF TEACHERS 365 

perform, we find that the minimum requirements demand 
seventeen years in preparation ; it is oftener eighteen or 
twenty years. Only a few of the German states have as yet 
adopted the Prussian plan, in introducing the Se7ni7iarj ahr ; 
but where Prussia leads the others are sure to follow — if only 
at a respectful distance. 

The Prussian Seminm^ien, to which candidates are assigned 
on passing the examination pro facilitate doceyicli, are of two 
kinds : (1) those under the immediate direction 
of the provincial school-boards, twelve in all — semiDars 
two in Berlin, and one each in Breslau, Gotting- 
en, Konigsberg, Magdeburg, Stettin, Posen, Dantzic, Cassel, 
Miinster and Coblentz ; (2) those instituted by ministerial 
rescript of March 15, 1890, which are connected with the 
leading Gijmnasien and Realgymnasien, and are each under 
the direction of the director and one or two associated head- 
teachers of the school. 

The Seminar 1671 of the first class are state institutions on 
special foundations, many of them having a specific purpose, 
as the training of teachers of religion, of modern 
languages, etc. These royal Seminarien admit gemTnars 
few candidates, and, as a rule, all members re- 
ceive valuable stipends. The twelve institutions together do 
not have more than seventy members, but all are picked men. 

For some time prior to 1890 the average number of candi- 
dates for the Prohejalir in Prussia had been over five hundred 
annually. Since the introduction of the Sem- 
iyiarjahr, however, the number has steadily "seminaTs.^ 
decreased. In 1894-1895 there were only one 
hundred and ninety-two persons in the Se^ninarjahr and 
two hundred and twelve in the Prohejalir. Hence only 
about thirty gymnasial Seminarie^i, of the seventy that were 
planned, have been needed. These, as above stated, are un- 
der the direction of principals of higher schools, who are 
relieved of about one-fourth of their regular teaching in 
order that they may have time for this work. 

During tlie Seminarjalir two main objects are kept always 



366 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

in view — a clear understanding of pedagogical and didactic 
principles, and an introduction to the practical workings of a 

higher school. Once a week the Director leads 
The Training ^ discussion ou somc pedagogical topic, with a 

view to a better understanding of its practical 
application to teaching. The members of the Seminar mean- 
while are observing the teaching of various masters, and after 
the first three months are themselves permitted to give two 
or three lessons a week. The Director, or some member of 
the faculty delegated by him, hears all these lessons and 
guides the young teachers" work. From time to time special 
lessons are given, which are attended by all the members of the 
Seminar, and by the director and his associates. The teacher 
presents the lesson according to a previously prepared out- 
line, copies of which are in the hands of the critics during 
the progress of the lesson. Then comes the criticism, in 
which the teacher first gives his views of his own work, fol- 
lowed by the other members of the Seminar; the director 
sums up the discussion, and points out possibilities of future 
improvement. Throughout the year the young teachers are 
instructed in the use of special school apparatus, books and 
other teachers' helps ; they attend all faculty meetings, have 
a share in the oversight of pupils and are inducted into the 
mysteries of the final examinations. Three months before 
the close of the school-year each member of the Seminar 
hands in a dissertation on some subject closely connected with 
his previous work. The director thereupon makes an ex- 
haustive report to the provincial school-board of the year's 
work, in which the abilities of the various candidates are 
passed in review. On the basis of these returns and the 
records of the examination pro facultate docendi, the inspec- 
tors (Oberschulrdte) advance the candidates to their Probe- 
jahr, or refuse altogether to give them furtlier training as 
men unfitted for the teachers' profession. 

Of the noted institutions of Germany designed for the 
training of teachers for the secondary schools may be men- 
tioned the University Seminarien of Jena, Leipsic and 



THE PROFESSIONAL TRAINING OF TEACHERS 367 

■Giessen. The first named is well known in this country 
from its director. Professor Eein, and bears a deservedly good 
name at home because of the progressive school- 
masters that it has sent out. Unfortunately, %^mhmrf^ 
however, its influence is more on the side of 
elementary education ; the training school, which is also 
under the direction of Professor Rein, is composed of folk- 
school pupils ; and the practical problems that 
come up for discussion are almost invariably the 
problems of the lower schools. It cannot be said, I think, 
that the Jena Seminar, at least under Professor Rein's ad- 
ministration, has exercised any great influence on the second- 
ary schools. Nevertheless, the general pedagogy that is so 
ably presented there is now being utilized indirectly through 
the medium of a gymnasial Seminar of the Prussian type 
which has been recently established in connection with the 
Jena Gymnasiuyn. In this way intending secondary-school 
teachers can avail themselves of Professor Rein's lectures and 
all the general discussion of the University Seminar, and at 
the same time keep in touch with gymnasial affairs and give 
practice lessons under the direction of Dr. Gu stave Richter, 
director of the Gymnasium. 

The Seminar in Leipsic is only remotely connected with 
the university. It is under the direction of Dr. Richard 
Richter, who is both director of the royal Gy7n- 
nasium and professor in the university. The 
candidates do their general work in the university, and come 
to the Gymnasium for training in practical lines. It has only 
a one-year course, and, inasmuch as its members are in prep- 
aration for positions in the higher schoolp> of Saxony, the 
Seminar has little influence beyond the kingdom. 

It is somewhat different with the Seminar at Giessen. 
From its beginning in 1876 it has been under the leadership 
of Dr. Hermann Schiller, who is at once Pro- 
fessor of Pedagogy in the University, director 
of the Gymnasium, and Oherschulrat of Hesse. It is the pio- 
neer institution of the modern type, and has given direction 



368 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

to the recent development of the Prussian gymnasial Semina- 
rien. Schiller^s Hcmdhuch der pralctisclieji PddagogiJc and his 
Geschichte der PddagogiJc indicate the scope of the work. 
By means of lectures, discussions and dissertations, the way 
is prepared for the practical application of the principles of 
psychology and ethics. Every problem is a problem of sec- 
ondary education, and every member of the Seminar is in 
training for the secondary schools. An unusual amount of 
work is required of the Seminar members ; but, so far as I 
can judge from a short visit, it is done fairly well. It is evi- 
dent, however, that better financial support would work 
great improvements. But in theory Schiller's Seminar is far 
and away ahead of any institution in Germany designed for 
the training of teachers for the secondary schools. It comes 
near being a model training school for secondary teachers. 

The honours of leading the recent movement in Germany 
for better pedagogical training are about equally shared be- 
tween Dr. Scliiller and the late Dr. Frick of 

Halle. 

Halle. The former was the pioneer ; but in 
1881 Dr. Frick reorganized the Seminariiim Prmceptorum of 
the Franclcesche Stiff iingen, and became at once a recognised 
leader of pedagogical thought in Prussia. Since his death, 
in 1892, the Seminar has been conducted by his successor. 
Dr. Fries, on the Prussian gymnasial plan. 

The Prohejahr, as I have already indicated, has not been 
much affected by the introduction of the Seminar training. 

As heretofore, the candidates are told off in pairs 
Trill Year.^ ^^^ scrvicc in the larger schools. Their work 

is mostly class instruction, under the guidance 
of older teachers. Besides the six or eight hours a week of 
teaching, they may be called upon for a certain amount of 
supervision ; they must attend all faculty meetings, and 
otherwise identify tliemselves with the life of the school. 
For all this they receive no remuneration whatever ; but, on 
the contrary, if their work is not acceptable, they may, on 
report of the director, be dismissed from the service. But if 
their record is satisfactory at the end of the Prohejalir, their 



THE PROFESSIONAL TRAINING OF TEACHERS 369 

names are inscribed on the list of teachers eligible to appoint- 
ment in the higher schools of the province. Their period of 
probation is finished ; they have only to wait a few years 
before beginning their life work. This work, once begun 
and attended to with reasonable diligence, will insure them a 
competency for the rest of their days. It is a slow process, 
but sure. The end, however, is a desirable one both for the 
teachers and for the state. 

General References : — Fries, Die Vorhildung der Lehrer fiir das Leh- 
ramt^ Vol. II., Pt. I., of Baumeister's Handhuch (This comprehensive 
study was not published in time to be of service in the preparation of this 
chapter ; I specially commend it to those who are interested in the train- 
ing of teachers for secondary schools. — J. E. R.); Loos, Die prakiisch- 
pddagogische Vorhildung in Deutscliland^ Zeitschrifi filr osterr. Gym.^ 
Vienna, 1893; Schiller, Die pddagogische Vorhildung der Gymnasial- 
leJirer, address before the 41st Philologenversammlung (gives the Giessen 
plan) ; Frick, Pddagogische und didaktische Ahhandlungen — Das Sem- 
inarium prceceptorum^ Halle, 1893 ; Rein, Aus dem pddagogischen Uni- 
versitdts- Seminar zu Jena^ Langensalza; Zange, Gymnasialseminare 
und die pddagogische Aushildvng der Kandidaten des hbheren Schulamtes^ 
Halle, 1890 ; Beyer, Zur Errichtung Pddagogischer Lehrstuhle an unseren 
Universitdten, Langensalza, 1895 ; Windscheid, Das Lehrerinnenhildungs- 
und Priifungsivesen^ in Wychgram's Handhuch des hoheren Madchenschul- 
wesens^ Leipsic, 1897; Schiller, Praktische Pddagogik ; Schrader, Er- 
ziehungs- und Unterrichtslehre^ Berlin, 1893 ; Encyclopedias of Schmid 
and Rein. 



24 



CHAPTER XIX 

APPOINTMENT, PROMOTION AND EMOLUMENTS OF 
TEACHERS 

Cajs'DIDATEs for teachers' positions in the higher schools 
who have successfully passed the state examination and com- 
pleted the prescribed course of professional 
^Tethers.* ""^ training make formal application to i\iQ Pro- 
vincial- Scliulcollegium in the province where 
they wish to teach. In case several applicants have completed 
their trial year ai the same time, priority is determined by 
the dates of the state examination. This fact is of great im- 
portance, inasmuch as teachers are appointed to permanent 
positions in government schools in order of seniority as de- 
termined by the official list. Each candidate, it is to be 
noted, is certificated only in certain subjects and for definite 
grades. As vacancies occur in the state schools, appointments 
are necessarily made from those possessing the requisite 
qualifications. 

This method of appointment was especially emphasized in 
the Berlin Conference of 1890 as the only satisfactory mode 
of checking favouritism. The plan has its ad- 
p^ocedure Vantages ; it also has its defects. For example, 
, it may happen that well-qualified men, polished 
gentlemen, will be sent to comparatively unimportant posi- 
tions, while men of less merit fall into more desirable and 
more exacting berths. It is always possible, however, for a 
candidate te surrender his chance to the man next in order, 
and still retain his place at the head of the list. On the other 
hand, if a candidate refuses an appointment once it has been 

370 



APPOINTMENT AND PROMOTION OF TEACHERS 371 

made, he may be set back six months, put at the foot of the 
list or dismissed altogether, at the discretion of the provin- 
cial school-board. Such an extremity, however, is usually 
avoided by a little foresight on the part of the Oierschulrat. 
A candidate holding the first place on the list may be advised 
by the inspector to retire in favour of the next in line, when- 
ever it seems desirable that the first eligible candidate should 
not be appointed to a particular position. For 
example, A and B, ranking respectively first 
and second in the official list, are both qualified in the major 
subject required to fill a vacancy existing at some important 
place. The inspector knows that a place much more suited 
to A is likely to become vacant in a few months ; he advises 
A accordingly to give way to B, who is immediately appointed 
to the inferior position. If B refuses to accept, he will be 
set back far enough to give no trouble for some time to come. 
Indirectly, therefore, the inspectors have considerable power 
in placing men ; they use it freely to advance the interests 
of the best candidates and the most progressive schools. It 
is always the senior candidate's right, however, to demand 
appointment to the first position falling vacant for which his 
credentials qualify him. Once on the official list, nothing but 
gross negligence can prevent his ultimate appointment to 
some position. 

Teachers in higher schools, of whatsoever kind, must be 
selected from the provincial list. Vacancies in state schools 
must be filled in order of seniority, as described , ^., „ ^ , 

^ . , In City Schools. 

above ; but city schools and others under special 
patronage are free to select from the list regardless of order. 
The local board nominates a candidate for a vacancy, and asks 
the approval of the provincial inspectors. This granted, the 
appointment is made in regular fashion. Herein again the 
inspector shows his power. By refusing to confirm a nomina- 
tion made by a local board, and forcing, if needs be, a series 
of choices, the government can determine, indirectly at least, 
the character of the teaching force in schools not immediately 
under its jurisdiction. It must be conceded, however, that 



372 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

tlie privilege allowed to the local boards of selecting teachers 
at will from the eligible list tends to take the best teachers 
away from the state schools. The cities generally pay larger 
salaries and take younger men — all of which is a great induce- 
ment to eager candidates. But many teachers prefer to wait 
their turn for appointment to a state school, because of the 
greater dignity attached to the government service. The 
civil servant enjoys a certain rank at court, and has the proud 
satisfaction of knowing that no favouritism or political bias 
enters into his appointment. 

All definitely appointed teachers are required to take the 

oath of office, which is administered by the directors of the 

state schools or by the local maeristracy in behalf 

Oath of Office. ^ , , , \^ ^ p -. ^ . ^ • . 

01 City schools. l>y order oi 1848, it runs as 
follows : " I swear to God the Almighty and Omniscient 
after I have been installed as of to be sub- 
missive, loyal and obedient to His Royal Majesty, King of 
Prussia, my most gracious lord, to fulfil all the duties of my 
office according to the best of my knowledge and belief, and 
also faithfully to observe the constitution. So hel}^ me God.^^ 
The ceremony closes with a formal handshake, whereupon the 
person is installed in the service of the crown. But lest he 
forget his professional duties, a special ministerial rescript 
reminds him that " the teacher in a public school must 
possess both the intellectual and moral strength which en- 
ables him to be an example in all respects to his pupils. He 
should recognise no higher duty than with fidelity to his 
self-chosen profession to avoid in instruction and association 
with his pupils all that might tend to disturb the natural and 
sound development of youth, all that cannot be conceived 
and rightly judged by youth, all that might tend to displace 
right religious feelings or reverence for what is noble and 
good." 

The intending teacher in Germany does not expect a speedy 
appointment to a governmental post. In fact, he expects to 
wait years for it. The certificated candidates who received 
appointments in the province of Hesse-Nassau in 1894 had 



APPOINTMENT AND PROMOTION OF TEAGHERS S7S 

waited already an average of six years since the expiration 
of their respective trial years. The same test applied to other 
provinces gives the following results : Branden- 
burg, 8 years ;_ Hanover, 5.5 years ; Saxony, Antinfment. 
3.5 years; Silesia, 7.5 years; Posen, 5.4 years; 
West Prussia, 8.1 years; Westphalia, 4.4 years; Schleswick- 
Holstein, 4.2 years ; Ehine Province, 3.8 years. This makes 
an average period of waiting for the average candidate of 5.0 
years. ^ 

The variation in the several provinces is due to the relative 
desirability of positions, the number of city schools, condition 
of social life as determined by large cities and 
personal reasons. Candidates are free to make 
application for a place in the official list of any province, but 
they are not permitted to register in more than one. Some 
provinces, therefore, have more eligible candidates than 
others ; some have been so unpopular at times as not to have 
candidates enough to fill their vacancies. But the ministry 
now reserves to itself the right to permit voluntary transfers 
from one province to another, and in case of necessity arbi- 
trarily to equalize the lists. Eligible candidates from other 
states may also be assigned by the ministry to particular prov= 
inces. A candidate who leaves his province without per- 
mission, or accepts a permanent appointment to a school not 
under royal patronage, or engages in an employment not ap- 
proved by the authorities, loses thereby his place in the 
eligible list. 

An unfortunate combination of subjects in which a candi- 
date is certificated may long defer promotion. According to 
the list of certificated candidates in Hesse-Nassau, above re- 

' Statistics for the first half of the year 1897 show that in the province 
of Brandenburg, in which the city of Berlin is situated, twelve perma- 
nent appointments were made. The waiting periods were respectively 11, 
10.5, 10, 9.25, 9, 8.5, 8, 8, 7.5, 7.5, 6 and 5.5 years— average, 8.33 years. 
The ages of the teachers thus first appomted to their life work were re- 
spectively 36, 34, 42, 41, 41, 36, 35, 38, 43, 33, 36 and 31 yeavs.—Fada- 
gogisches Archiv, Vol. XXXIX., p. 176. 



374 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

ferred to, the distribution among major subjects was as fol- 
lows : Religion and Hebrew, 7 ; Latin and Greek, 54 ; French 

and English, 15 ; mathematics and physics, 32 ; 
^"""subjectT ""^ chemistry and natural sciences, 2 ; history and 

geography, 8 ; gymnastic training, 9. If there 
were the same number of positions requiring these subjects 
in the schools of the province, the candidate in chemistry and 
natural sciences would have twenty-seven chances of promo- 
tion to one for Latin and Greek. But there are more teach- 
ers wanted for the classics than for the sciences. An examin- 
ation of the faculty lists of three typical schools shows sixteen 
teachers of Latin and Greek to seven teachers of chemistry 
and natural sciences (or either). This reduces the chances of 
the candidate in science very materially, and yet the ratio is 
about twelve to one in his favour. But the law of supply and 
demand will regulate all these defects in time. This happens 
to be a period of rapid advancement in science, and good 
teachers are few. 

There is still another factor that influences appointments 
and tends to delay promotion. When vacancies occur from 

death or retirement, the probabilities are that 
^TeaSers^^ Superior places are to be filled, and that many 

changes will be made before there is need of 
calling in a new man. Untried men are never appointed to 
any particular position, but rather to a position which is 
pretty certain to be near the foot of the faculty list. Young 
men often have to stand aside and let experienced teachers 
from other schools step into the places that seemed to be 
theirs. In fact, the transfer of teachers from school to school 
is much more frequent than would seem possible under the 
system. Some positions are eagerly sought, because of special, 
advantages attached thereto. The Friedriclis- Werdersches 
Gymnasium of Berlin and Schulpforta, for example, have 
special foundations for teachers, widows and orphans, and 
valuable stipends for the education of teachers' sons. But 
despite all such attractions, a vacancy will be sifted out some- 
where to which a young candidate may be appointed. 



APPOINTMENT AND PROMOTION OF TEACHERS ^1^ 

It is not to be understood that the candidate spends the 
time intervening between the trial year and his permanent 
appointment in idleness. Some are emjoloyed ^^ ^ 
as assistant teachers at a salary of 1,500 marks During the 
($375) per year. Others seek employment as Wdting Period, 
private tutors, journalists, book-keepers or what-not. Prac- 
tically, however, most candidates are unable to do anything 
but teach ; they have had no training for anything else, and 
competition is too severe in Germany to let choice positions 
go a-begging. Often a candidate prefers to serve a number of 
years as assistant in a good school, awaiting appointment in 
that place, than to accept a permanent position in an undesir- 
able locality. In Hesse-Nassau, in 1894, of one hundred and 
seventeen certificated candidates awaiting appointment, thirty 
were assistants and ten were employed in other capacities in 
the public schools. Sixty-five were over thirty years of age. 
They had spent, on the average, fourteen years in prep- 
aration — nine in the Gymnasium, three in the university 
and two in professional study — and were destined to wait full 
six years after being declared fit for their life work. 

After taking the oath of allegiance and having been in- 
stalled in a definite position, the teacher is a government of- 
ficer. His tenure of office is secure, and upon 
retirement after ten years of service he is en- 
titled to a pension. His salary and pension are determined, 
primarily, by the position which he occupies and length of 
service. While a teacher must always confine his instruc- 
tion to the subjects in which he is certificated, an effi- 
cient teacher is certain of advancement in rank. Leaving 
assistants {Hilfslelire7') and special teachers out of account, 
there are three ranks : regular teachers ( Ohcrlelirer), profes- 
sors and directors. The title of professor, however, is purely 
honorary, and carries with it no substantial benefits. It is 
one of the practical results of the Conference of 1890, in- 
tended to better the social standing of higher-school teachers. 
By royal order, it is decreed that one-third of the regular staff 
of the higher school may be appointed by the ministry to a 



376 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

rank equivalent to that of university professor and have the 
title. The honour is intended to be an award of merit ; but in 
practice it is the upper — and older — third of the faculty who 
receive it, regardless of merit. 

Special privileges are granted to teachers in accordance 

with their rank. All state officials of Prussia are carefully 

classified, and the s^radation is punctiliously 

Privileges. -' o l j 

observed on all state occasions. The ordinary 
higher-school teachers belong to the fifth class ; directors and 
professors of twelve years^ service belong to the fourth class ; 
and occasionally the crown honours a very old man who is dis- 
tinguished as a teacher and director with the privileges of the 
third class and the title of Gelieimer-Begieriings-Rat. Pro- 
vincial school inspectors and ministerial councillors, being 
administrative officers, are ranked by themselves in higher 
classes. 

Great care is exercised in the selection of directors of 
higher schools, not only for the professional responsibilities 
involved, but also because through them the 
^DkectOTs^^ government expects to watch over the politi- 
cal development of future leaders in the state. 
From the time of the Reformation down to 1810, it was the 
custom for the city magistrates to nominate principals of 
schools under their patronage, subject to the confirmation 
of the local pastor and the superintendent of the ecclesiastical 
district. Humboldt made the election of directors of Gym- 
nasien dependent upon the approval of the crown. In 1817 
the provincial consistories were given the right to appoint, 
or approve the appointment, of all higher-school teachers, 
except that the assent of the ministry was necessary in case 
of head-teachers and directors. A few years later the minis- 
try assumed the entire appointive powers, and in 1836 the 
appointment of directors was again direct from the crown. 
And there it remains to-day. By custom, however, the 
choice of director is almost entirely left to the judgment of 
the provincial inspector — himself persona grata to the king 
and ministry who retain him in office. The inspector, as he 



APPOINTMENT AND PROMOTION OF TEAOHERH 377 

moves about the schools of his province, marks those teach- 
ers who seem to have the quality of leadership. When a 
vacancy occurs in a state school, he knows at once the man 
for the place. Whenever possible, the selection is made from 
the faculty of the school ; but petty jealousies often make this 
impracticable. In case of city schools, the local board usually 
seeks the advice of the provincial inspector. But no city is 
bound to take the man who may be the choice of the inspec- 
tor ; on the other hand, the inspector, with the consent of the 
crown, can veto any appointment the city board may make. 
Thus a dead lock may occur if a city government is strongly 
liberal or progressive, and aims at getting a school director of 
the right political stripe. The government would unhesitat- 
ingly refuse to confirm the appointment of any man known 
to be of a socialistic turn of mind. In such an event the local 
board must proceed to another election, and so on till a compro- 
mise candidate is found. The state is bound to win in the end ; 
it is extremely imprudent to oppose one's superiors in Prussia. 
The successful candidate for the vacant principalship is 
generally the one who has made no move to secure it. Elec- 
tioneering on a candidate^'s part would surely 
defeat him ; such action is branded as unprofes- ^^ffortr^ 
sional in Germany, and unworthy of a teacher 
and a gentleman. Nothing prevents a person making an ap- 
plication for a position, even in a state school ; but a good deal 
depends on how it is done. Public advertising or the exer- 
tions of ^'^ teachers' agencies" would be of little use. The 
approved method is to keep in close touch with the provincial 
inspector. There is nothing discreditable in a young man's 
telling the inspector tliat he prefers promotion in line of 
principalship, rather than as master. If such a man is willing 
to take the leadership of a small provincial school, his chances 
of advancement are good. Promotion to a better post may 
come, if one's record is good ; but it will come slowly. The 
typical director of a higher school is a man above fifty years 
of age ; the directors of the state schools in Berlin in 1894 
were of the average age of sixty years. 



378 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

The installation of a director of a higher school is an inter- 
esting ceremony. A representative of the government, gen- 
erally a provincial school inspector, makes an 
^""Sii^ct^r* address and inducts the director into office. 
Besides this, there is generally a place on the 
program for music, speeches by local dignitaries and an in- 
augural address by the newly installed officer. No oath is 
required, as the director is already in the civil service ; he is 
merely transferred to a new field. And, in general, no ex- 
amination of any kind is required, although provision is 
made for a Colloquium pi'o rectoratu, which is specially de- 
signed to test the director's familiarity with the laws and 
ordinances governing his office. These are so many and so 
intricate that, as a provisional inspector once said to me, 
" the average teacher can hardly be expected to know them.^' 
Hence the omission of this test. 

It would far exceed the limits of this essay were I to attempt 
to give in detail the duties of higher-school directors, as de- 
fined by the ministerial orders, circular rescripts 
DirecTors^ and provincial regulations which have been 
issued for the guidance of these officials. Suf- 
fice to say, that there is no code of school laws in Prussia, and 
that precedent determines everything. The briefest possible 
summary of the official orders given to the directors from 
1867 to 1873 covers over one hundred finely printed pages in 
Wiese-Kiibler's Laws and Orders. Besides being required 
to teach at least twelve hours a week, the director is charged 
with the entire responsibility of his school. He oversees 
the work of all his teachers, and is obliged personally to ob- 
serve their work and to keep a written record of his observa- 
tions. He must settle all disputes within his faculty, and re- 
port cases of negligence to the provincial school-board ; he 
must be the leader in the professional life of his school ; he 
must be in constant communication with the parents of his 
pupils, and see to it that the regular notices and reports are 
issued at the proper time ; he must make exhaustive annual 
and semi-annual reports to his superiors, and be ready at any 



APPOINTMENT AND PROMOTION OF TEACHERS 370 

time to supply all statistics and special information that the 
government may require ; and once in three years he must 
file a comprehensive report of his administration, which in- 
forms the government of the condition of his school, its 
needs and the quality of the work and character of each in- 
structor. In short, there is nothing that a school principal 
can be conceived as doing which is not directly enjoined or 
prohibited in the numerous precedents established by official 
orders. And I wish to say that, so far as my observation 
goes, the conscientious director of a higher school in Germany 
is the hardest worked man I have ever seen in the profession. 
Principals of schools and colleges in England and America 
may occasionally be charged with greater responsibility ; but I 
have never found elsewhere so much detail work and so much 
teaching coupled with the necessity of professional growth 
and intellectual productivity, nor have I ever seen elsewhere 
so much energy wasted for lack of clerical assistance. It is 
painful to see a great school-master doing unaided what a 
third-rate stenographer could better do. But the day of type- 
writers has not yet dawned on the fatherland ; the old way is 
quite satisfactory, if the new happens to cost money. 

An extract from a private letter from one of the foremost 
directors in all Germany tells its own story : *' I am at present 
quite overwhelmed with work, which, to my 
regret, is chiefly administrative and always un- instance, 
congenial to me. I am still compelled to turn 
night into day, in order to perform the most necessary duties. 
Then, all my spare time is taken up with class visitation, 
criticism of teachers' work and devising means of assisting 
them to better results. It takes so much time ; but I must 
do it, as I can find no other way of interesting them in new 
methods. Besides, my notion of a pedagogue compels me to 
regard this work as my highest duty ; it is in the interests of 
the moral education of my pupils, which is certainly not less 
important than their intellectual development. The next 
step is to secure the friendly co-operation of the parents, for 
the sake of complete harmony between home and school. All 



380 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

this is desirable, and I am compelled to do it. Note, too, 
that I must also keep regular office hours for parents and 
pupils ; hold conferences ; that I give thirteen hours of in- 
struction a week, for which papers must be prepared and cor- 
rected ; that I have two trial teachers entrusted to me, whose 
training I must supervise with special care ; that I must, 
unaided, make up the numerous government reports and 
conduct all my correspondence. Note all this, and you will 
readily see that more than one man's strength is demanded 
or much must be neglected. But even this is not the end : 
I had almost forgotten the regular directors' meeting (of the 
city) ; consultation with the local board ; special conferences 
(just now it is the question of school gardens) ; the numerous 
educational meetings which one must attend occasionally, for 
the sake of appearances ; social obligations, which one can 
never entirely shake off ; and, finally, family — but there is 
nothing left for them, poor things ! " One wonders that 
there is anything left of the man. But the picture is true 
to life, as I can testify from personal observation of the 
school. I need scarcely add that for six years this man has 
been vainly trying to revise a little book of liis which the 
public demands in a new edition. 

Necessity has invented a way of piecing out a director's 
strength and extending his authority. It is the discovery of 
the class-master, or Ordinarius, and his possi- 
bilities. The Ordinarins is a regular teacher 
who is chosen by the director, with the consent of the pro- 
vincial school-board, to act as the director's representative in 
a particular class. There are, therefore, as many class- 
masters as there are classes in the school. Each class-master 
is selected from the teachers who give instruction in the class 
— generally the one who teaches the largest number of hours. 
The class-master is expected to be teacher, guide and friend 
of his class. All other teachers report to him, and the class 
record is his special care. Pupils must first seek his advice 
before going to the director; he becomes personally acquainted 
with the parents of his boys ; he studies the condition of 



APPOINTMENT AND PROMOTION OF TEACHERS 381 

their home life and their conduct out of school ; he has 
charge of the trial teachers who may be assigned to the class, 
and sees to it that no harm comes from their 
teaching ; and in all faculty conferences he 
acts as spokesman for his class. From the reports of other 
teachers he knows just what each boy is doing, and is pre- 
pared to talk intelligently with teacher or boy, as the case 
may be. Thus, he is responsible for the industry, progress 
and morals of his charges. But he is not allowed to hear 
pupils^ complaints against other teachers, nor can he inter- 
fere with the execution of any order that a colleague may 
give. A question involving the judgment or goodwill of an- 
other teacher must go to the director. 

It will be evident that the class-master can be of great ser- 
vice to the director. Wlien the office is faithfully filled, as 
I believe it generally is, not only is the director saved much 
anxious care, but the work of the school is wonderfully im- 
proved. And, best of all, the system provides for that close 
and intimate contact between pupil and teacher which is so 
essential in a secondary school ; at no time in a boy^s course 
is it so necessary to have the close, personal and intensely in- 
terested guidance of some one upon whose experience and 
advice he may rely. To be sure, not all class-masters are 
successful, or even conscientious, in the performance of their 
duties ; but enough of them are to remove all basis for that 
charge which is so often, and so falsely, made against German 
school-masters — namely, that they have no personal interest in 
their pupils. 

Regular teachers are required to give at least twenty-two 
hours of instruction per week, but professors may fall under 
this minimum two hours without losing a pro- 
portionate amount of their salary. Assistants ^""^'Te^cheT^^' 
must teach twenty-four hours, and special 
teachers twenty-six hours per week. Every instructor is 
liable to be called upon at any time for extra service, in case 
of need, without remuneration. The teacher is required to 
obey the orders of the director in all official matters. He 



382 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

must faithfully carry out the official program, keeping in mind 
the general administration and educational purposes of the 
school. He must see that the physical powers of the pupils 
are not overtaxed, and that all instruction is made pedagog- 
ical and clear. He must hold all recitations punctually ; 
make all corrections of pupils' work regularly and exactly ; 
record all cases of punishment, with explanations, and report 
such cases to the class-masters and director. He can commu- 
nicate with higher state officials only through the director. 
He cannot marry without the consent of the provincial school- 
board. He may ndt take up outside duties, nor give in- 
struction to pupils in the regular course, without the consent 
of the director. He must notify the director in case he wishes 
to make a journey during vacation ; or, if he wishes to resign 
his position, he must notify the provincial school-board at 
least three months in advance. Especially are teachers re- 
quired to hold themselves aloof from all political controver- 
sies, and from publishing or writing essays or themes on po- 
litical subjects. 

The director is expected to supervise and criticise the work 
of his staff. If a teacher remains indifferent, he may be re- 
proved by his colleagues in faculty meeting, or 

Sapervi*8ion. ^^^^ director may report the case direct to the 
provincial school-board, which is autliorized, 
after special investigation, to take final action. The offender 
may be fined, suspended from office for a time or dismissed 
from the service altogether. Naturally, extreme measures are 
taken very seldom, and only for the grossest misconduct or 
impropriety. The usual means of whipping a negligent 
teacher into line are the director's criticisms and the fear of 
losing caste with his colleagues. It is a hard blow for a 
teacher to be proved inefficient by his successor in the next 
higher class. Such a condition is sufficient reason for faculty 
censure, which is about as hard to bear as the extreme pen- 
alty. Indeed, it is generally felt that the teacher who con- 
ducts himself in a manner to merit the disapprobation of his 
fellows would accept dismissal quite as gracefully as censure 



APPOINTMENT AND PROMOTION OF TEACHERS 383 

from the faculty. It happens very seldom, therefore, that a 
teacher is publicly reprimanded — probably all too seldom. 
The esprit de corps of German teachers is very marked ; but 
action — or rather inaction — is more influenced by the univer- 
sity custom of letting each man do as he will, than by the 
military ideal of upholding the honour of the profession. The 
fact is — and there is no denying it — a large percentage of the 
staff of each school is a dead weight which the rest must 
carry. Whatever be the theoretical means of detecting poor 
work, and of prodding the inefficient teacher, in practice all 
depends upon the personality of the director. If he is a pro- 
gressive man, and knows how to inspire his teachers with 
high ideals, all goes well ; but if he is himself weak, or too 
diplomatic to stir up bad odours, the rotten parts will be dis- 
creetly covered. This is undoubtedly the usual state of affairs, 
due in a large measure to the fact that in each school some 
teachers are long past their prime. These men may have 
been good teachers twenty years ago ; but the times have 
changed. New tasks have been imposed upon the school, and 
there is not enough vitality in reserve to meet the emergen- 
cies. In many cases it is not a lack of goodwill, but absolute 
inability to see things in their modern perspective. 

The advantages of the Prussian system are obvious. Its 
chief defect is the difficulty of getting rid of incompetent 
teachers. The teacher^s tenure of office is based 
upon such grounds, and governed by such hxws, pf^^Tan System, 
as make expulsion from the service exceedingly 
difficult. Not only is it difficult to prove charges of inef- 
ficiency, but it injures a school to make the trial. The next 
best plan— the one that is regularly enforced in the army — 
is to force the incompetent teacher to retire and make way 
for a better. This step, however, necessitates the payment 
of the pension to which every retiring higher-school teacher 
is entitled. It costs money, and consequently the step is re- 
luctantly taken. 

The teaching profession in Germany cannot expect to rival 
the military, but the two are drawing nearer together. The 



384 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

effort is being made to establish a professional code of honour, 
as in the army, in which the younger teachers are trained by 
the older ones. The policy of having a gen- 
^^'^ideaf'^^^ erous sprinkling of reserve officers in the teach- 
ers' ranks is decidedly helping to establish a 
norm. The ideal teacher of to-day is not that of twenty or 
thirty years ago. He is not the absent-minded, black-coated, 
seedy individual that once typified the scholar, but a wide- 
awake man of the world. Of course, the gradual separation 
of the schools from clerical influence is largely responsible for 
this change ; yet it is the military spirit that has set the ideal 
for the modern teacher. The man who stands before his 
chiss erect and stiff as a statue, buttoned to the chin and in 
faultless attire — this is the man who inspires German pupils 
with the highest respect, even though his speech in the class- 
room is as short, sharp and imperious as that of the parade 
field. In referring to my observations on this point, one of 
the most progressive inspectors of Prussia freely expressed 
himself as convinced that the military type of teacher was the 
coming one. He maintained, too, that the increased atten- 
tion to gymnastics and field-sj^orts was tending to strengthen 
the military spirit among the pupils. " For us there is no 
other way,^' he said ; " we are and must remain a nation of 
soldiers. When we cease to be that we are nothing." It remains 
to be seen whether the military spirit will sufficiently pene- 
trate the profession as to make it impossible for a master to 
sliirk his duty ; whetlier the best interests of all will be sacri- 
ficed to the indolence, indifference or inability of a few. 

The salaries of teachers in the higher schools of Prussia 

vary, as has been said, according to rank and length of service. 

Directors of full nine-year schools in Berlin re- 

Salanes. . » ^ 

ceive from $1,500 to 11,800 a year, and 1375 for 
house rent if an apartment is not provided in the school 
building. The initial salary of directors of complete schools 
in cities of over 50,000 inhabitants is 11,275 ; after fifteen 
years of service the maximum, $1,800, is reached. The initial 
salary in smaller cities is 11,200. Directors of six years' 



APPOINTMENT AND PROMOTION OF TEACHERS 385 

schools begin in Berlin and other large cities with 11,275, 
and work up to 11,500 ; in the smaller cities, the limits 
are 11,125 and 11,500. Regular teachers in 

Directors 

state schools receive an initial salary of $675, 

which is increased $75 triennially until the maximum, $1,275, 

is reached, after twenty-four years of service. One-half of 

all the teachers in the complete schools and 

one-fourth of those in the incomplete schools r^achers 

may receive an additional allowance of $225 per 

year for distinguished services. The salaries of technical 

teachers, assistants and others of like grade range from $375 

to $900. To these amounts should be added 

the annual allowances for house rent : directors. Teachers 

$150 to $250 ; regular teachers, $90 to $225 ; 

and others, $40 to $135 — according to the size of the city in 

which the teacher must reside. City schools and those under 

private patronage may be permitted to pay larger salaries 

than the state allows, but in no case can they pay less.^ 

The salaries of directors and teachers of higher schools are 
very low in comparison with the salaries paid to men of equal 
worth in American or British schools. It will 
be seen that $2,000 is beyond the reach of the ExprsIJ'. 
best men in the state schools, even after twenty 
years of service. A few city schools, and some on special 
foundations, do approximate that amount. And these men, 
be it understood, are holding positions equivalent to the 
presidency of a high-grade American college or the head- 
mastership of an English public school. The discrepancy is 
often explained on the theory that it costs correspondingly 
less to live in Germany. That living expenses are less in 
Germany than in America is true, but it is not because foods 
are cheaper there than here. The fact is, as everyone knows 
who has tried it, that it costs more to live in Germany than 
in America, if you live in the same way. Provisions of all 
kinds are more expensive ; clothing and domestic service 

' The complete salary schedules of Prussia, Saxony, Bavaria and Wiir- 
temberg are given in Appendix. 
25 



386 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

alone are cheaper. The German family has learned the les- 
son of economy ; the same economy, if practised in Amer- 
ica, would yield still better results. The sole advantage 
which the German teacher has, as I see it, is in his tenure of 
office and pension. This may make good the difference or 
not, just as one looks at it. 

It is no wonder that with such meagre income German 
teachers rarely travel beyond the fatherland. Leave of absence 
may be granted, but the teacher must bear the 
'st-^^nd^ expense of a substitute. Prussia, however, ex- 
pends yearly 5,000 marks in assisting teachers, 
especially of modern languages, to study abroad. The city 
of Berlin provides an annual fund of 6,000 marks for the 
same purpose, and a few other cities do almost as much. 
Special foundations exist, too, for the purpose of assisting 
classical teachers to a period of travel in Italy and Greece. 
These grants range, according to the circumstances, from 500 
marks upwards. In case of illness, no deduction is made ; the 
director will divide up the work among the other members of 
his staff. If, however, there are no signs of ultimate recovery, 
the teacher is ordered before an examining board for retire- 
ment. 

Teachers of all grades in the civil service retiring after ten 
years of service — or earlier, if because of disabilities incurred 
in the discharge of their duties — receive a pen- 
sion of If of their last year's salary. For each 
year of service beyond ten years, /^ of the last year's salary is 
added, until, after thirty years, the maximum of ff is reached. 
A teacher who has an income, from all official sources, of $1,600 
will receive, therefore, a pension of 11,200 for the rest of his 
life. More than that, after his death his widow is entitled to 
one- third of his pension; and each child under eighteen years 
of age, to one-fifth as much as the mother.^ 

On the whole, it must be conceded that the German teacher 
is tolerably well provided for. His income is small; but in 



' See Appendix for a summary of pension laws. 



APPOINTMENT AND PROMOTION OF TEACHERS 387 

comparison with members of other learned professions, he is 
not far in the rear. He can live as his neighbours do, enjoy 
cultivated society, rear a large family, send his sons to the 
university, fit his daughters to be as cheerful, industrious 
and frugal as their mother, and be assured of a competency 
in his old age. 

General References : — Wiese, Das hbhere Schvlwesen in Preussen ; 
Wiese-Kubler, Verordnungen und Gesetze ; Instruction fiir die Directoren 
an den hbheren Unterrichtsanstalten der Proviriz Brandeyihurg (and same 
for Lehrer and Ordinarien)^ Berlin, 1868; Bestimmungen iiher das Mdd- 
chenschulwesen^ 31 Mai, 1894, Berlin, 1895 ; Wychgram, Handbuch des hb- 
heren Mddchenschulwesens, Tieipsic, 1897; Encyclopedias of Schmid and 
Rein; Stdtistisches Jahrhuch der hbheren Schulen ; Kunze, Kalendar fiir 
das hbhere Schulwesen Prewssens, Breslau, 1894 ; Centralhlatt fiir die ge- 
sammte Unter7-ichts-Ve7-waltung in Preusse7i (official organ of the Prus- 
sian Education Department). 



CHAPTER XX 

TENDENCIES OF SCHOOL REFORM 

The German school system in its present form is tlie out- 
come of a long process of development, in which there has 
been continual adaptation of means to ends. 
A Complex rj^j^^ svstem of the future will be the result of 

Pioblem. "^ 

an evolution in what is now at hand. The 
factors in this problem are so numerous, and their interrela- 
tions so complex, that it is almost presumptuous in a foreigner 
to suggest a possible solution. Nevertheless, there are certain 
tendencies so manifestly important that they deserve special 
mention. This chapter, therefore, is the projection of the 
historical introduction to this study into the present and 
future. 

The pressing problems in German educational affairs are 

unmistakably those relating to the function of the higher 

schools — questions of the end and means of 

The Mam secondary education, of state control and indi- 

Questions. _ -^ ' 

vidual freedom. Of course, there are many less 
important questions ; and it is characteristic of tlie German 
way of doing things to slight nothing because of its apparent 
insignificance. There are questions of methods of teaching, 
of internal organization and conduct of school work, of hy- 
giene, of salaries and pensions, of the social rank and stand- 
ing of teachers, of the professional training of teachers — all 
these and many more are constantly in the minds of German 
educators, as the flood of current literature clearly demon- 
strates. At intervals, these questions come into prominence; 
but with few exceptions the course of development is well 



TENDENOIES OF SCHOOL REFORM 389 

understood;, or waits on tlie solution of more fundamental 
problems. 

The struggle between humanism and realism in higher 
education goes back centuries. It had passed through several 
stages even before Sturm and Comenius en- 
tered the lists: since their day there has been Humanismi;.. 

' _ ^ ^ ^ Realism. 

no cessation of hostilities. The latest stage of 
development was entered on in Germany about forty years 
ago, when i?e«^schools began to be fostered by the state. 
Then, for the first time, the ^'gymnasial monopoly^'' was 
forced to reckon with a real adversary. It is the same old 
struggle, but in modern dress. In this case both humanism 
and realism have been touched with the prevailing civic ideals 
of education. The problem is to reconcile the conflicting 
claims of humanism, realism and nationalism. 

I have already attempted to show that the higher schools 
are expected to enter readily into the service of the state. 
The emperor, in an order dated May 1, 1889, 

T 1 ,. T . T ^ . \ Civic Ideals. 

said: ^'1 have lor a long time been occupied 
with the thought of making use of the schools in their sepa- 
rate grades for combating the spread of socialistic and com- 
munistic ideas. The prime object of the schools will ever be 
to lay the foundations for a sound comprehension of both civic 
and social relations, by cherishing reverence for God and love 
for the fatherland. But I cannot fail to recognise that in a 
time when the errors and misrepresentations of social democ- 
racy are spread abroad with increased zeal, the school is called 
upon to make increased efforts to advance the recognition 
of the true, the real and the possible in the world. The 
school must endeavour to create in the young the conviction 
that the teachings of social democracy contradict not only the 
Divine commands and Christian morals, but are, moreover, 
impracticable and, in their consequences, destructive alike 
to the individual and to the community. The school must 
bring the new and the newest history of the times more than 
hitherto into the circle of the subjects of instruction, and 
show that the power of the state alone can protect for the in- 



390 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

dividual his family, his freedom and his rights. And it 
must bring the youth to know how Prussia's kings have ex- 
erted themselves to elevate the condition of the labourers, in 
a continuous development from the legal reforms of Frederick 
the Great, and from the abolition of serfdom to the present 
day. Moreover, the school must show by statistics how con- 
siderably and constantly in this century the wages and condi- 
tion of the labouring classes have improved under this mo- 
narchical protection. '' ^ 

This led to definite proposals by the ministry of state for 
carrying out the emperor's wishes. In August of the same 
year another imperial order directed the calling 
se^rthe^tTtl ^^ *^^® Conference which met in Berlin in De- 
cember, 1890. Tliis order supported the posi- 
tion formerly taken in the following terms : ^' The duty falls 
upon the higher-school system, in a more effective pursuit of 
its former objects, not only to equip those social classes that 
are called to exercise a critical influence upon the entire life 
of our people Avith the knowledge necessary to produce such 
results, but also to give them, by means of an education based 
upon Christianity and the national German spirit, a perma- 
nent tendency of the will and of the character. Therefore, 
above all, those subjects of instruction which are calculated 
to determine immediately the sensibility and will are to be 
employed to the greatest extent possible. Along with these 
duties, common to all the higher schools, the goals fixed for 
individual classes of schools are to be kept firmly in view. If, 
however, in this, not merely a more highly cultured person- 
ality, but also an intellectually composed and a morally con- 
firmed personality, is everywhere striven for as the result of 
the instruction, then all the scientific work of the higher 
schools will serve the ends of true education. This is univer- 
sally recognised ; but different views prevail as to the way 
that should be taken to reach this goal, and these views are 
in part contradictory. Therefore, it has been recommended 

' RepoH of the Commissioner of Education^ Washington, 1889-1890, 
p. 344. 



TENDENGLES OF SCHOOL REFORM 391 

to ascertain, through the joint deliberations of men of differ- 
ent positions in life, which of the numerous proposals for 
improving our school system are justified, and how the same 
are to be equalized ; especially, however, how they are to be 
made available for school forms that have come down to us 
through history/^ ^ 

Again, in his address before the assembled Conference, he 
returned to the same theme. " This order in council,'" he said, 
" would, perhaps, have been unnecessary, if the 
schools had stood at the stand -point which they theEmperor^ 
ought to occupy. If I shall become somewhat 
sharp in my subsequent remarks, I will state here, in advance, 
that these remarks refer to no one in particular, but to the sys- 
tem, to the whole situation of affairs. If the schools had ac- 
complished what must be demanded of them — I speak to you 
as one who is not unfamiliar with them, for I have attended 
the Gymnasium ?iTi^Vxiowh.ovf things go there — they, of their 
own accord, would have undertaken the fight against social 
democracy from the very beginning. The teaching faculties 
of our schools ought to have taken a firm hold of the situa- 
tion, and ought to have instructed the growing youth in such 
a way that the young people who are of my own age, about 
thirty, would now furnish me the material wherewith I might 
accomplish the overthrow of this movement. But such has 
not been the case. . . . But just here lies the punctum 
saliens. Why are so many of our young people led astray 
by crude theories ? Why is it that so many so-called reform- 
ers of the universe ( Weltver'besserer) make their appearance 
among us, with their confused and incoherent notions ? 
What is the reason why so much fault is continually found 
with our government, and we are perpetually referred to for- 
eign nations for example ? Because our young people are 
ignorant as to the historical evolution of the conditions of our 
time, and as to the fact that they are the outgrowth of the 



' See Verhandbmgen ilher Fragen des hbhere^i Unterrichts^ Berlin, 1891 ; 
also Report of Commissioner of Education^ Washington, 1889-1890, p. 346. 



392 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

age of the French Revolution. . . . The question, then, 
before iis is, how can we best reach the desired results with 
regard to classical and scientific training {Real-Mldmig), and 
as to the requirements for the one yearns service in the army? 
The easiest way, in my opinion, to get at these results is by 
changing, with one decisive and radical step, our former 
views, and by saying : Classical Gymnasien for classical educa- 
tion, and another kind of schools for scientific training {Real- 
hildung), but no Realgymnasien. The Realgymnasieu are 
only half-way measures, which give but a partial education, 
and produce, therefore, only incomplete preparation for life/' ^ 
The emperor^s words were a direct challenge to all parties. 
The humanists were charged with being philologists merely, 
not educators in the truest sense of the term. 
^^N^ede™""^ " "^^^^ foundation of our Gymnasium must be 
German. It is our duty to educate young men 
to become young Germans, and not young Greeks and Ro- 
mans." The Realgymnasium was declared to be a hybrid in- 
stitution, which gives ^^buta partial education and . . . 
incomplete preparation for life." And, lastly, the entire sys- 
tem, Realschuleu included, was condemned as wanting a na- 
tional basis. 
^^ While the charge that the higher schools were responsible 
for the growth of social democracy was indignantly repudi- 
ated by the conference, the results of their 
Nationalism deliberations appear in the school curricula of 
1892, in which the subjects of religion, German 
and history are made the centres of instruction. To that 
extent nationalism, as represented by the emperor, might 
claim a victory. 

The cause of ultra-realism was decidedly advanced, in that 
the Realschulen were given a definite place in the school sys- 
tem, and endowed with some privileges hitherto 
Eeli^sJhoo^is confined to the classical course of training. In 
consequence, these schools have had a remark- 
able growth in the last five years. In 1890 there were in 

' Educational Review^ I., pp. 201 ff. 



TENDENCIES OF SCHOOL REFORM 393 

Prussia only nine Oberrealschulen and twenty JReaUchulen ; 
these numbers had increased in 1896 to twenty-four and 
seventy-three respectively. In the meantime the attendance 
had increased from 4,177 and 6,940 to 10,288 and 19,675.^ 

The signal advantages accorded to the Realscliulen have 
put the advocates of a humanistic education on the defensive. 
The emperor's advice to convert all Realgy^nnasien into Ober- 
realschulen, and the action of the ministry in discrediting 
classical instruction in classical schools, precipitated a heated 
discussion concerning the true significance of humanistic 
training. 

Advocates of the Realgymnasium have always insisted that 
that institution was designed to afford a liberal education on 
the basis of modern culture. They contend The Problem of 
that no secondary school can give both the theReaigym- 
ancient point of view and the modern also ; that Dasmm. 
the attempt to do both is the only '' half -training " which is 
known in German schools. Better cut the knot at once, 
then, and acknowledge that Greek is not absolutely essential 
to a well-rounded humanistic training. You can have a hu- 
manistic education founded on the Greek and Roman cult- 
ure, with a modicum of the modern added ; or you can have 
a humanistic training based on Latin, French and English, 
with such understanding of Greek culture as can be gained 
through art and philosophy and literature, without a knowl- 
edge of the Greek language. They point out that in the 
ministerial order of 1859, which established the Realgymna- 
sien, it was expressly stated that these institutions were not 
intended to be schools merely for the furtherance of realistic 
education. " They are not technical schools {Fachschuleji), 
but, like the Gymnasien, have to do with the general means 
of education and fundamental knowledge. Be- 
tween Gymnasien and Realscliulen, therefore, Pu™e. 
there is no essential opposition, but a relation 
of mutual support. They share the task of providing 
the basis for the higher education necessary for the learned 

^ Statistisches Jahrbuch der Holier en Schulen. 



394 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

professions. This division lias become necessary through the 
development of the sciences and social conditions/' This 
principle was again recognised in 1882, when the i?e«Z-schools 
with Latin {Realsclmlen I. Ordnung) were given the gymnasial 
title. 

But time effects many changes — among them changes in the 
personnel of the ministry of education. Hence in 1890 the 
proposition to abolish these modern humanistic institutions 
altogether. But the attempt was a failure ; these schools ex- 
ist, and are probably stronger to-day, because of the persecu- 
tion, than they were in 1890. 

The humanistic party is divided against itself. Both fac- 
tions accord the Olerrealsclmlen a legitimate place in the 
school system. The realists, therefore, are for 
oSSons ^^^ nonce quite satisfied. The out-and-out 
classicists claim that enough is conceded ; the 
Realscliulen are pre-eminently the schools for those who want 
only modern culture. The more liberal faction asserts that 
there can be no understanding of modern culture without the 
historical setting that comes from a study of the life and lan- 
guage of Kome. Greek, too, is desirable ; but it should be an 
optional subject. 

This is the attitude of Professor Paulsen ; and it accounts 
for the fact that, in gymnasial circles, he is one of the most 
cordially hated men in Germany. He is at the 
Pauisen!^ Same time, I may also add, one of the most 
popular men in other circles. He is a hard 
fighter, and cannot be terrified into silence. His creed is as 
follows : '^ A school without Latin cannot be the culture- 
school {Gelehrtenscliule) of the present. It may be that the 
OlerreaUcliule is the school of tlie future ; it may be that, in 
one hundred, or two hundred, or five hundred years, a school 
not only without Greek but also without Latin will suffice 
in preparation for the learned studies of that period. In fact, 
I have no doubt that the significance of the ancient languages 
will continue to decrease, just as in the past three hundred 
years. But this must be said : The school of the future is 



TENDENCIES OF SCHOOL REFORM 395 

not the school of the present. The knowledge of the Latin 
language is to-day indispensable for most higher studies. 
. . . If Latin is no longer the universal literary language, 
it is still the language without which a deep historical educa- 
tion is impossible. He who undertakes Latin has the possi- 
bility of stepping out of the narrow circle of the present. 
He has access to a world that lies entirely beyond the inter- 
ests and passions of the day, a world that has become entirely 
historical. Thus he can observe the present as from out- 
side ; in old Rome he moves in a world which had its own 
centre, and knew nothing of the world that stirs about Berlin 
and Paris, London and Moscow, and which fights about pope- 
dom and Lutherdom, revolution and reaction, and whatever 
other names are given to the antitheses of the present time. 
So he gains an objective point of view for these things, to 
use Spinoza^s expression sub quaclam ceter7iitatis specie. Just 
as Rome is the Eternal City, so is Latin also the language 
of eternity. Indeed, a language of an astonishing range : 
Caesar wrote in it his reminiscences and Augustine his con- 
fessions ; Catullus sang in it his songs and the mediaeval 
church its awe-inspiring hymns ; Lucretius composed in it 
his poem ^ On the Nature of Things ' and Spinoza his ethics ; 
and twice did Rome write in it laws for the world." ^ 

Professor Ziegler, of the University of Strasburg, is of the 
same opinion. In a public address in 1894 he spoke thus 
plainly to the representatives of the Gymna- 
sien : " We do not at all deny the educational zJ^eTeT'' 
value of Greek. We do not for a moment dis- 
pute the splendour and lustre of the Greek spiritual life, its 
ideal worth and its great educational value. But when we lead 
our youth to Lessing and Schiller and Goethe, and, instead of 
Sophocles, to Shakespeare, we also mean thereby to open to 
them the highest spheres of the spiritual life of man ; and 
when we let them look deeper than you do into the secrets of 
nature, an ideal element of a different kind reveals itself, which 
consists in the recognition of the subjection of man to Nat- 

* fiber die gegenwdrtige Lage des hoheren Schulwesens^ Berlin, 1893. 



390 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

lire's Law, and which can be made by us a great educational 
power. But we want to meet you on the same ground in the 
study of the mother-tongue and of history, as well as instruc- 
tion in Latin for the sake of linguistic culture and for the re- 
cognition of the historical connections of our whole civiliza- 
tion and spiritual life. And when you seek to strengthen 
your Latin instruction because it no longer adequately serves 
its purpose, we stand with you shoulder to shoulder ; for we 
are Gymnasien as well as you, i.e., preparatory schools for 
the university.''^ 

The leaders of the conservative wing are Professor Uhlig, 
of Heidelberg, and Dr. Jaeger, of Cologne. They uncom- 
promisingly opposed all suggestions for reform 
^Leaders^ in the Berlin Conference, and on principle 
never fail to urge the advantages of a complete 
classical training. It is not how many things a pupil knows, 
but what he knows, that counts ; and not so much what he 
learns as how he learns it. Everything cannot be taught in 
the schools ; a selection must be made, and it is well to 
choose what is of lasting worth. '^ In every word of Latin 
a bit of Culturgeschichte is hidden away, and that prevents 
the instruction from sinking into triviality ; it makes it 
scientific even for nine-year-old boys. . . . 

Their Arguments, rm ^ • i i t • • i • 

The Gymnasittm must be preserved m its in- 
tegrity. The essence of the Gymnasium does not consist in 
that the pupil reads any particular Greek or Latin author in 
his fourteenth, or even in his sixteenth year, and also not 
altogether in that he is introduced to antiquity ; but it con- 
sists in this alone, that by a gradual accustoming to exact 
knowledge, however it is grasped, the pupil is educated to 
knowledge in its highest sense." ^ 

The same idea came to expression over and over again in 
the conference. The Realgymnasium was charged with being 

' Notwendigkeit imcl Berechtigung des Realgymnasiums., Stuttgart, 
1894. 

'^ Jaeger in VerJiandlungen iiher Fragen des hbheren UnterrichtSj Ber- 
lin, 1891. 



TENDENCIES OF SCHOOL REFORM 397 

a school with no " centre ; '^ with a curriculum made up of 
a little of everything that seemed to cater to popular needs. 
" Above all," said one speaker, '' it matters not so much 
what is taught as how it is taught. ' Man lives not, nor 
shall live, by the bread alone that the school crumbles for 
bim.' He lives also from that which other forces reach out 
to him — the force of the family, that of the church and that 
of the entire life of the people. These forces must also share 
in the school ; must take hold and co-operate with it. Not 
knowledge, but culture is the chief thing." ^ 

It is evident that the opponents of the Realgy7nnasium put 
the emphasis on the Real, while its advocates are anxious to 
lay stress on the latter part of the compound. 
In other words, what is troubling the German Question 
educational world is the ^' Greek question." 
British and American school-masters know well what that is ; 
but it is doubtful if any of us can imagine what it might have 
been if every gate to our leading public and professional 
occupations had been barred by six years of prescribed Greek. 
That is precisely the rub in Germany to-day. Six years of 
Greek and nine years of Latin are required of every applicant 
for the coveted posts in professional and civil service. The 
prevailing opinion is that these positions should be occupied 
only by men who have enjoyed a humanistic training. But 
what is humanistic training ? and how should it be rewarded? 

A calm view of the situation seems to me to present a two- 
fold opposition to the ^^ gymnasial monopoly." One force is 
represented by those who would make Greek 
optional ; these support the ReaJgymnasium. MoiKmoiy^.^^ 
The other element will hold tenaciously to 
Greek, but make the gymnasial course more popular, and 
thus overcome the opposition to the classical training ; these 
are the advocates of the Reform- SclmUn, as found, for example, 
in Frankfort-am-Main. It is a curious fact, too, that in all 

' Dr. Uhlhorn. See Professor Thiirber's excellent review of the pro- 
ceedings of the Berlin Conference in the Report of the Commissioner of 
Education, Washington, 1889-1890. 



398 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

the discussions very little is heard of the value of Greek. 
The struggle turns on the position of Latin. Indeed^ it comes 
near being a contest between scholasticism and humanism. 
The conservatives will hear nothing of optional Greek. They 
will not concede to the Realgymnasium the gymnasial Latin 
course ; they will not grant additional privileges to the schools 
which offer Latin, but no Greek. They lose no chance to take 
unfair advantage of their opponents ; even the Berlin Confer- 
ence, it is charged, was a '^packed" convention, and destined 
for its initiation to oppose any proposition looking to equal 
rights for all humanistic schools.^ In the eyes of the liberals, 
the representatives of the Gymnasien are dogs in the manger. 

' " Dr. Hornemann, Dr. Albrecbt and Dr. Holzraiiller were all well- 
kuown opponents of the ^eaMnstitutions. All the most prominent repre- 
sentatives of the Realgymnasien^ as, for example, Steinbart, Schwalbe, 
Schmeding, Krumme in Brunswick, and Dillman in Stuttgart and Prof. 
Preyer in Berlin, were not summoned. All members of the congressional 
committee on education who had spoken in favour of the equalization of 
the Realgymnasien^ like Seyfifardt, Schmelzer and Arendt, were also 
missing. On the other hand, the deputies Graf and Kropatschek, who 
had always opposed the wishes of the ^m^school, were included. There 
was one mathematician— Holzmiiller, he a declared opponent of the Real- 
gymnasien ; no naturalist, unless we count the physicians as such ; no 
teacher in a technical high school ; no artist; no architect ; no engineer; 
no forester ; no merchant ; one manufacturer, and one mine-owner. The 
association of ^m/-schoolmen had good reason to complain; its most 
violent opponents were summoned, and its cliief advocates were not. 
Much miglit be expected, however, in the way of such reforms as did not 
involve a serious change in school organization. Schenkendorf, Eitner 
and others might be expected to advocate warmly the cause of physical 
culture. Frick and Schiller would take ground for a pedagogical prepara- 
tion of teachers. There was ground to hope that some measure would be 
taken against over-pressure and the causes of near-sightedness. There 
was lamentation that no one appeared to plead the cause of drawing and 
art in the Gymnasium. Some practical improvements in existing institu- 
tions might be expected from such a commission, but no radical changes. 
The friends of the new German school, however, expected little ; and 
they would liave been less disappointed than they Avere but for the 
energetic interference of the Emperor." — Professor Thurber, in Report 
of Commissioner of Education^ 188i)-1890, p. 349. 



TENDENCIES OF SCHOOL REFORM 399 

The truest friends of classical culture, in my opinion, are 
the liberals. Germany is no longer a part of the Holy Roman 
Empire. Since 1870 the German nation has German Educa- 
stood on a modern basis. Her civilization is, tion Must be cias- 
indeed, rooted in classical culture, and she feels 
her kinship with the past more certainly than can England 
or America. It must needs be, therefore, that her education, 
under wise management, will long continue to be of the clas- 
sical tyi^e. But the conservatives fail to recognise that social 
conditions are not what they were; that modern life is differ- 
entiated to a far greater degree than the life of the past, and 
that this differentiation demands variety in the training of 
youth. Moreover, they fail to appreciate the significance 
of the constantly increasing encroachments of the govern- 
ment. The mere fact that the government has been partial 
to the classical schools for seventy-five years does not neces- 
sarily guarantee the same attitude during the next seventy- 
five. The general will is long-suft'ering in Germany ; but 
once let popular opinion become hostile to the Gymnasien, 
the cause of humanistic education will be set back a century, 
if not utterly ruined. And when classical education breaks 
down in Germany, classical culture will vanish from the earth 
— unless, perchance, a better than Germany arises. 

I have already spoken at length of one liberal movement, 
the Realgyinnasium; the other— and the one which seems to 
me to promise better immediate results — is the 
Reform-School movement. It has already been The 

referred to several times in this book as the Reform-schooi. 
Frankfort plan. 

The idea of national unity which pervaded all classes of 
German society at the time of the revolution in 1848, and 
which later found expression in the new German Empire, has 
as its correlate in the educational world the idea of an Ein- 
heitsschule. This *^ Union School "was intended to absorb 
all the existing common and higher schools, and, by welding 
them together, to make one school suitable for all purposes, 
continuous from the lowest grades to the university. This 



400 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

ideal was heralded as the panacea for all educational ills by 
zealous pedagogues, who established unions, founded journals 
and made many speeches in its support. The movement was 
popular — altogether too popular to suit German bureaucracy. 
The emperor agreed with Bismarck in thinking that the 
^^ educated proletariat" were already too numerous; fewer 
university graduates, rather than more, was the chief desider- 
atum. The Einheitsschule was snuffed out, therefore, by the 
Berlin Conference. It was too democratic for Prussia.^ 

The Reform-Schule is not the descendant of the Einheits- 
schule, although it bears some relationship to it. In 18G5 
Director Ostendorf, of Lippstadt, began the 

Devdopment agitation for the earlier introduction of French, 
as a step toward Latin. The attempt was first 
made at Altona, in 1871, but complete arrangements were 
delayed until 1878. In that year Dr. Schlee was allowed to 
make the course in the first three years of the Realschule and 
Realgymnasium identical. During the first three years 
French was the only language taught at both schools ; in the 
fourth year Latin was introduced in the Realgymnasiumj and 
English in the Realschule. In 1892 the plan was adopted 
in the city schools of Frankfort-am-Main, and was extended 
to include a half of the Gymnasium, two Realgymnasien, the 
Oberrealschule and all the Realschulen of the city. The com- 
prehensiveness of the trial in Frankfort has given it first 
place in public opinion; hence the popular term, ''^Frank- 
fort system,''' has replaced the older and more strictly histor- 
ical term, " Altona system." 

The principle underlying the Reform-Schule is that of com- 
paratively short and intensive courses. In Frankfort, six 
years of Latin and four of Greek replace the 
Prindptes^^ usual nine and six years' courses in these sub- 
jects. Hence the decision on which a boy's 
future rests is postponed from three to five years later than 
in the regular royal schools. This gives time for teachers to 

' The important literature on the Einheitsschule is given in the Educa- 
tional Review^ I., 380. 



TENDENCIES OF SCHOOL REFORM 401 

test his ability, and a basis on which they can intelligently 
advise his parents. It retains for the strict classical course 
all those who are by nature fitted for it ; it gives the Real- 
schools the material which can best j^rofit from realistic in- 
struction. The tendency is to relieve the higher schools of 
all kinds from the dead weight which each must carry when 
pupils are forced to decide upon their course before their 
powers have been tested. 

Undoubtedly, school politics has much to do with the intro- 
duction of the reformed organization. The middle class in 
society looks upon the long classical training as 
an evil— a necessary evil, perhaps, but still some- i^tenle coi^^^^^^^ 
thing that should be swallowed as quickly as 
possible. A diminution of three years in the Greek and Latin 
courses, therefore, is likely to meet with popular favour. But 
a pedagogical principle is also involved which commends it- 
self to many school-masters, the expediency of prefacing the 
study of a dead language with a good working knowledge of 
a living tongue. The three years exclusively devoted to 
French works wonders, as I have related elsewhere; and if 
present indications mean anything, the Frankfort experiment 
will demonstrate that as great proficiency in Latin can be at- 
tained in six years, if preceded by French, as in nine years 
without it. On this point I quote from a report, made in 
1896 by the mayor of Kiel to the city magistrates, recom- 
mending the adoption of the Frankfort plan, which he had 
personally investigated both in Frankfort and Altona. His 
recommendation is significant of the attitude of many 
thoughtful men outside of the teaching profession ; his opin- 
ion of the quality of work done accords with the estimate 
that has been given by all unprejudiced observers. He says: 

" In Altona, where at present we find the only opportunity 
of seeing a Reform- ScTiule carried through to the highest 
class, I was especially interested in the instruction in Latin. 
I followed it through classes from the TJnterterUa to the 
Prima of the Realgymnasiiim. In the Untertertia, where Lat- 
in is begun, the pupils showed an unmistakable interest 

20 



402 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

in the new language ; the grammatical questions of the teach 
ers were answered with great readiness, and short sentences 

were translated with ease from German into 
AkonT ^° Latin. In the Obertertia a connected passage 

unfamiliar to the class was translated into Latin 
with remarkable confidence. Latin authors are taken up only 
in the Secunda. Caesar's Gallic War is read in Untersecimda 
exclusively, and in the Oherseciinda simultaneously with Sal- 
lust and Ovid. I heard the pupils of the Untersecunda 
translate a chapter from CaBsar at sight, and it seemed to 
present to them no difficulties whatever ; the Latin text was 
read aloud by the teacher only. In the Ohersecunda a simi- 
lar extempore translation of a particularly difficult chapter 
from the same author was given with equal success. In 
Prima Livy and Tacitus, of the historians, are read ; of poets, 
Vergil and Horace. The director himself conducts this in- 
struction. He had his pupils read for us two chapters from 
Livy, XXII. (chapter 39 after preparation, and chapter 56 
extempore), and proved his skill in the highly developed ability 
of the pupils at once to fully understand the meaning of the 
Latin construction and to translate it into good German. Tlie 
recitation of an ode of Horace (II., 10, in praise of the aiirea 
medocritas) finally showed that the pupils fully enjoyed the 
exquisite music of these lines. The aim of Latin instruction 
has been attained by the Primaner of the Altona Gymnasium 
at least as successfully, if not more so, than in any Realgym- 
nasium of the old sort. ... In Frankf ort-am-Main Latin 
has been so far introduced only in the Untertertia. The in- 
struction had begun three-fourths of a year before ; still, that 

short period was sufficient to show how easily the 

In Frankfort. ^^ ^ ^ i j xi y \ 

pupils who have had a three years preparatory 
course in French can overtake the pupils trained in the old 
way. The city Gymnasium at Frankfort has the advantage 
of a first-class corps of teachers and a highly gifted director, 
whose fame to a great extent consists in his allowing the 
teachers to use their own methods. Naturally, the Gymna- 
sium attracts superior material. Still, I would attribute a 



TENDENCIES OF SCHOOL REFORM 403 

great part of the successful work I have seen there to re- 
formed methods. I witnessed the Latin instruction in both 
parallel classes of Untertertia, one of which was taught by 
the director himself. The readiness with which the pupils 
answered the rapid questions of the teachers was really aston- 
ishing. Even when the director put his questions in Latin, 
the answers in short Latin sentences were promptly given — a 
readiness which I can only explain by the pupils^ confidence 
obtained in the use of the related language, the French." 

The following extracts from a circular letter addressed to 
the patrons of the higher schools in Hanover, advising them 
of the introduction of the Refovm-^Q\\Qo\ curri- 
cula in that city, shows the arguments which plrlnts^ 
appeal to parents : ^^ The Reform- Scliule obvi- 
ates the necessity of parents^ choosing for their nine-year- 
old son what career he shall follow. This important deci- 
sion is postponed until his natural inclinations and abilities 
can be more readily ascertained. Very often, too, a change 
in the circumstances of the parents makes it desirable that 
there should be more freedom in the choice of education for 
their children. . . . French is the foreign language first 
taught, and it is from the very beginning treated as a living 
tongue. . . . Such a beginning accords with the peda- 
gogical requirement that the subject-matter of instruction 
should correspond to the mental development of the pupil, 
and that the easier should precede the more difficult. When 
Latin is begun in Untertertia, the pupil is mentally ready for 
it. . . . Since by the new program of instruction the 
Latin essay is abolished, the scope of Greek prose composi- 
tion limited and the interpretation of the literature is made 
the chief object in classical instruction, it follows that . . . 
there can be no great difference between the gymnasial pupils 
and those from the new schools as shown in the final exam- 
ination. For in the development of mental power the new 
school will not have less means, nor will it be behind the 
other schools in directing the mind toward the ideal. . . . 
Through the prominence given to the study of French, and 



-i04 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

because of the increase in the number of hours given to Ger- 
man, the Reform-SchuU becomes an institution resting on 
a modern basis, and meets the needs of the times for an edu- 
cation more independent of the ancient languages. ^ The 
spirit of the scliool must be nourished by the life surrounding 
us, with whose changing tides the principles of education 
vary ; but for the success of all instruction faith in the utility 
and necessity of the knowledge acquired is of the greatest 
significance/ The new school believes in connecting the 
present with the historic past/^^ 

It is easy to detect in this announcement the mingling of 
politics, expediency and pedagogy. But what the people 
really want they will some time get, in Germany 
Reform School. ^^ elsewhcrc. It matters not that the old party 
predict the failure of the new school on a priori 
grounds ; the trial is being made with the consent of the 
government. In one form or another, it is being tried in 
Altona, Frankfort, Giistrow, Magdeburg, Essen, Iserlohn, 
Ilildesheim, Ilarburg, Osnabriick, Lippstadt, Bremen, Bres- 
lau, Hanover, Schoneburg, Charlottenburg, in the French 
Gymnasium of Berlin and in the Realgymnasium of Oarls- 
ruhe. If the experiment is a failure, it will be because the 
task is an impossible one. The first real test will come in 
1901, when the first graduates from the Frankfort schools will 
have a chance to demonstrate their knowledge of Greek and 
Latin side by side with those who complete the regular course. 
It is dangerous to venture a prediction as to the final out- 
come of the present struggle ; but to a person with a demo- 
cratic turn of mind, one of two possible solu- 
tions seems inevitable : either Greek will be 
made optional, or the gymnasial monopoly will be broken 
down. If additional privileges are given to the i^eaZ-schools, 
Greek may be preserved in its integrity for many years to 
come ; if six years of Greek must continue to bar the way to 

' Jahresbericht des stddtischen Leihniz-Realgymnasium zu Hannover^ 
1895. 



TENDENCIES OF SCHOOL REFORM 405 

professional life, then Greek will eventually become what it 
was before 1810 — a dead weight in the curriculum. An 
American or an Englishman, with his national predilection 
for freedom, finds it almost inconceivable that the Frankfort 
plan should fail ; it is essentially that which we ourselves are 
rapidly coming to believe in. The first three years, in which 
the course is common to all, are our " grammar-school " 
grades ; the upper six classes differentiate along the ^' clas- 
sical," the '* Latin-scientific" and the ''scientific" lines. 
But the German mind is not democratic ; it is monarchical, 
and accepts class distinctions. The old gymnasial course is 
the aristocratic course, and the privileged classes are deter- 
mined to keep it so. The Gymnasium — or, rather, its sup- 
porters — is largely at fault for the growth of social democ- 
racy ; but not, as the emperor thought, because it is doing so 
much, but because of what it is not doing. It will not grant 
that freedom of choice, variety in education and equal op- 
portunity for all, which modern life demands. I have more 
faith in modern ideals — even in Germany — than I have in 
German bureaucracy. The bane of the German schools is 
the system of privileges. When that is abolished, humanism 
and classical education of the right sort will flourish as never 
before. 

General References : — Verhandlungen iiber Fragen des hohei'en 
Unterrichts^ Berlin, 1891; Paulsen, Geschichte des gelehrten Unterrichts 
(new edition, last chapter) — Das Realgymnasium und die humanistische 
Bildung^ Berlin, 1889 ; tfher die gegenwdrtige Lage des hoheren Schul- 
wesens in Preiissen^ Berlin, 1893 ; Ziegler, Die Fragen der Schidreform^ 
Stuttgart ; Notwendigkeit und Berechtigung des Realgymnasiums, Stutt- 
gart, 1894; Bahnsch, Der Sireit um den griechischen Sprachunterricht^ 
Dantzic, 1893 ; Ohlert, Die deutsche hohere Schule^ Hanover, 1896 ; Wer- 
nicke, Kultur und Schide^ Osterwieck-Harz, 1896 ; Munch, Neue pdda- 
gogische Beitrage, Berlin, 1893; Frick, Die Finheit der Schule—Mog- 
liclikeit der hoheren Eiyiheitsschulen in Pad. nnd didak. Abhandlung- 
en^ Halle, 1893 ; Rein, Am Ende der Schidreform f Langensalza, 1893 
(gives bibliography down to 1893); Das humanistiche Gymnasium; Zeit- 
schrift fur das Gymnasialwesen ; Central-Organ fur die Inter essen des 
Realschulwesens. 



CHAPTER XXI 

MERITS AND DEFECTS OF GERMAN SECONDAEY 
EDUCATION 

The two dominant forces in the later development of the 

German school system have proceeded from the State and the 

University. The one has made the system ; 

TwoDominant ^j ^^ ^^^ g^j^^^j^ AVhatcvcr merits or 

Forces. ' 

defects are discernible, therefore, in German 
secondary edncation, aside from those due to local influences, 
which might arise anywhere and under almost any circum- 
stances, can be traced to one or both of these sources. In 
their tendencies these forces are radically different ; it is an 
opposition of the centripetal and the centrif- 
ugal. The state is authoritative, autocratic, 
conservative ; the university is free, liberal and democratic. 
The university embodies the highest ideals of the spiritual 
life and culture of the German people ; the 
state represents their genius for self-control, 
organization and government. It is at once the strength and 
the weakness of the school system that it is the resultant of 
several forces. 

In ascribing to the state so large a share of honor in the 
development of secondary education, I do not mean to dis- 
credit the influence of the Church. Until the 
^a Power ^^° present century the church was practically in 
supreme control. But since the Napoleonic 
Wars, the state has superseded the church in the management 
of school affairs. The spiritual leadership of the cluirch is 
perhaps as strongly marked now as ever, but it is maintained 

406 



GERMAN SECONDARY EDUCATION 407 

indirectly through the good offices of the state and university. 
The university provides for the theological training of intend- 
ing teachers ; the state prescribes the course of religious in- 
struction in the schools. 

It is not too much to say that without the fostering care of 
the state the present efficiency of secondary education could 
hardly have been attained. The state com- 
pels parents to send their children to school, ^""'^tatf '^^ 
provides ample means for their instruction, 
cares for their physical well-being, directs their course of 
training and sets standards for promotion and graduation ; 
it has perfected an organization which permits a high degree 
of central control, and yet allows considerable freedom in the 
local direction of school affairs ; it insists on high scholar- 
ship, thorough professional training and pedagogical skill 
from all its teachers ; it recognises a teaching profession, and 
agrees to support it even unto death. All this has been 
achieved by the German state in less than a century. It is 
an achievement of which any people might well be proud. 

The compulsory school laws of Germany are most salutary 
in their effects. They are severe, but they work no hard- 
ships. It has come to be so much a matter of 
course for children to enter school at six and ^^^P^^j^ory 

School Laws. 

attend every day regularly until they are four- 
teen, that to the average child it seems as inevitable as his 
birthdays. This assures to every child who is j)hysically and 
mentally able to receive it full eight years of schooling. 
Luther proclaimed it the right and duty of the state to 
compel parents to send their children regularly to school ; 
Weimar enacted the first compulsory education law in 1619 ; 
Gotha followed in 1642 ; Brunswick in 1647 ; Wiirtemberg 
in 1649 ; and finally, in the reign of Frederick the Great, 
Prussia introduced the plan which has since become univer- 
sal in Germany. The responsibility is placed where it be- 
longs — on the parent. Complete census lists are kept by 
the local police ; and twice a year, before the opening of each 
term, the school authorities are given the names of all chil- 



408 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

dren who should enter school. Those who are not enrolled 
in the higher schools^ and who have not received permission 
to undertake private study, are required to show cause for 
not attending the common schools. Delinquents who do not 
satisfactorily excuse their shortcomings are reported to the 
police or truant officers, whose duty it is to make investiga- 
tions and institute the necessary legal proceedings. In the 
higher schools the problem is much simpler than it is in the 
common schools, simple as it is anywhere. The necessity of 
earning the privileges connected with promotion in the 
higher schools effectually keeps all laggards in line ; the 
assistance of the law is rarely necessary. 

The care of the state is most beneficent in the regulations 
concerning hygienic conditions of school work. No school 
building can be constructed, whether by royal 
Precautions ^^ municipal authority or by private or corpo- 
rate bodies, which does not conform to officially 
accepted standards of sanitary science. In the selection of 
school sites ; in the arrangements for heating, lighting, ven- 
tilation and plumbing of school-houses ; in the precautions 
taken for the prevention of contagious and infectious diseases, 
the government has taken modern science into its service. 
If the construction, equipment and management of German 
schools are not the best in the world, it is not the fault of 
the system. The health of the children in school is every- 
where looked upon as a matter of grave importance, which is 
greatly complicated by the natural inclinations of the Ger- 
man boy to lead a sedentary life. The German boy seems to 
have an aversion for outdoor games ; it is partly the fault of 
the pressure he works under in the schools, partly because he 
is a German. Whatever else may be done or left undone, the 
state insists on its children having sound bodies, as the funda- 
mental condition of developing sound minds. The emperor 
told the Berlin Conference that he was " looking for soldiers ; 
. . . for a robust generation who can also serve the fa- 
therland as intellectual leaders and public officials. . . . 
I consider it very urgent that the question of hygiene be taken 



GERMAN SECONDARY EDUCATION 409 

up in the training schools for teachers, and that with it be 
joined the requirement that every teacher who is healthy- 
must be able to go through the gymnastic exercises, and 
must do it every day/^ 

A uniform course of study for all schools of a particular 
grade, and a common standard for promotion and graduation, 
can be made most serviceable in a national 

1 p -\ ,' mi • 1 Uniform Curricula. 

scheme of education. There is, however, one 
important proviso : The regulations must be wisely made and 
still more wisely administered. The German states have not 
always acted thus wisely, but no one can deny that much 
good has resulted from uniformity. Under the old regime 
there were some grand schools, some great school-masters, 
some excellent scholars ; but the average level was deplorably 
low. For every really good school a score of wretchedly poor 
ones could be cited ; and with each student who entered the 
university well prepared, fifty others were admitted who had 
no business there. The present plan insures a high standard 
for all : it protects the university from being deluged with 
immature students ; it guards the pupil against incompetent 
leadership and partisan interference. 

The organization of the higher-school system, especially in 
Prussia, is worthy of general imitation. It provides for a 
central bureau, local school-boards and pro- organization of 
Ymcisil SchuIcoUegi 671 intermediate between the the school 
two. The provincial inspectors of schools System, 
supervise and unify the educational interests of their respec- 
tive districts ; the central authority is extended immediately 
over the provincial boards, and through them indirectly over 
all schools in the kingdom. The provincial inspectors, or- 
ganized as they are in semi-independent bureaus, have prac- 
tically entire control of all ordinary school affairs within 
their respective territories; and thus they can do much tow- 
ard granting local option. On the other hand, matters in 
dispute can always be appealed to the ministry, or even to the 
crown in the last resort. Each school is given considerable 
freedom in working out its own policy, and each teacher has 



410 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

a chance to stamp his own individuality on all his work. 
Courses of study and the regulations for school management 
are seldom minutely prescribed ; they are transmitted in out- 
line, with a statement of the minimum standards, leaving to 
individual initiative entire freedom in practical application. 
The many defeats suffered by the government in attempting 
to codify the school laws are popular recognitions of local 
rights. It is greatly to the credit of the Prussian school- 
masters that, while granting to the state general directive and 
supervisory powers, they have tenaciously adhered to their 
individual and professional rights in the exercise of these 
duties. No ministry has, thus far, violated these rights with 
impunity. I have stated elsewhere my reasons for thinking 
that much credit is due to the provincial school-boards for 
this good fortune. The partial isolation of the boards, their 
personal contact with the schools on the one hand, and their 
dependence on the ministry on the other hand, tend to make 
them peace-makers. In theory, if not always in practice, 
their mission is blessed. 

The greatest service that the German states liave done for 
the cause of education is unquestionably the creation of a 

^ ,. , teaching profession. That first step taken by 

Creation of a ° ^ r j 

Teaching Humboldt in 1810, which provided for the ex- 
Profession. amiuation and certification of teachers, was the 
inauguration of a policy to which Prussia has converted the 
civilized world. And as Prussia was the first to take her 
teachers into the service of the state, so she has maintained 
her leadership in making the profession worthy of public 
honour and preferment. No other country has done so much 
to dignify teaching, and to attract to it the best talent ; none 
has so persistently and intelligently pursued the policy of 
making the teacher's position worthy of the man ; nowhere 
else can such teachers be found. Prussia has not only created 
a teaching profession, but she has trained up a body of men 
to occupy it who are without rivals the world over. This is 
not mere flattery. It is a calm conviction growing out of 
a long personal acquaintance with the men of whom I speak. 



GERMAN SECONDARY EDUCATION 411 

and a somewhat intimate knowledge of conditions in other 
European countries. The Prussian teacher has his faults, 
and I have taken occasion elsewhere to expose them ; but 
when these are set off against his virtues, it seems almost 
trivial to criticise. The Prussian teacher, generically speak- 
ing, is a man of noble character, high ideals, generous im- 
pulses, broad and accurate scholarship and technical skill ; 
he is a gentleman, patriot and educator. 

The making of teachers is the joint work of state and uni- 
versity. The state has made the teaching profession attrac- 
tive by protecting it at all points, and supporting 
it most generously ; the university has trained ^'''urment 
the teacher, given him his ideals and sent him 
forth thoroughly equipped for his life's work. The character 
of his equipment may well be shown by a comparison. Pub- 
lic opinion in America is coming, somewhat tardily it must 
be confessed, to demand a college training of its high-school 
teachers. In Prussia the teacher in a higher school has a 
training equivalent to the American college course, plus two 
years of post-graduate study, plus other two years of profes- 
sional training and trial teaching. Those who believe in the 
all-sufficiency of erudition, as well as those who believe in the 
necessity of professional training, must grant the superiority 
of the German teacher in point of preparation. And even 
those very respectable people who profess to believe that 
teachers, like poets, are born, not made, must confess that 
Germany has, at least, a fair chance for distinction if the 
laws of heredity operate elsewhere than in their own families. 

It should be remembered that Germany is in Europe, and 
that Europe stands armed for war. '^ The first and para- 
mount duty of our European States is to guard 
against aggression from without ; and this duty, Muttarfsm 
which is forced upon them by the enmity and 
rivalry of their neighbours, frequently overshadows the higher 
aims of civilization and culture." ^ This is a condition 

' Professor Ziegler, of the University of Strasburg, in Forum, XXV., 
4, p. 457. 



412 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

which has to be reckoned with in estimating the merits and 
defects of the German school system. War demands men ; 
they should be both intelligent and loyal. The schools are in- 
stitutions supported by the state in the interests of the state. 
What more likely than that the government should seek to 
convert the schools into training camps for the army ? 

It should also be remembered that the government is 

monarchical ; the crown is established by divine right — so, at 

least, runs a recent dictum from the throne. 

ASoiuttsm What more likely than that patriotism should 

be officially interpreted as loyalty to the crown 

and established institutions ? 

The chief defects in the German school system may be 
traced to these sources. For upward of a century the man- 
agement of the schools has steadily been be- 
^°^fect8^^^ coming more bureaucratic. The demands of 
militarism have begotten the privilege of one- 
year volunteer army service ; the Abschlusspruftmg is the 
latest encroachment on the domain of public secondary edu- 
cation for military purposes. Indeed, the whole system of 
privileges, which I have characterized as the bane of German 
secondary schools, is an evidence of bureaucratic control. 
Year by year new regulations are made which tighten the 
grip of the central authority, and leave correspondingly less 
freedom for local option. The trend is toward officialism and 
formalism. It weighs on the teachers in their class-rooms, in 
so far as they are required to observe ends which are foreign 
to true pedagogical ideals ; it distracts the pupiFs attention 
from his study for its own sake, and centres it on rewards to 
be attained out of school ; it lowers the standards of scholar- 
ship, by forcing schools to carry too heavy a load of super- 
annuated teachers and unambitious scholars. In a word, the 
tendency is to place altogether too little reliance on individ- 
ual liberty and personal ambition. 

The German university is the nursery of German idealism 
and individual liberty. From the days of Luther until the 
present time it has been the mother of revolutions. The 



GERMAN SECONDARY EDUCATION 413 

Reformation centred about Wittenberg, and Halle was founded 
two centuries ago on the principle of Lernfreiheit. Freedom 
of research, freedom in teaching, is the corner- 
stone of university education in German. And yet ^ univTr?t ^^^ 
the universities are state institutions and stand 
under royal patronage. It is a curious and instructive fact 
that such a democratic institution as the German university, 
pledged as it is to absolute freedom and independence in all its 
work, can exist in a German state. They are essentially in op- 
position to each other at every point. Time and 
again this opposition has resulted in open hos- °°™^ Freedom ™ 
tilities, and many learned professors have found 
it prudent to accept voluntary exile. Twice within five years 
the attempt has been made to enact imperial laws restraining 
the freedom of speech in university circles. In the session 
of 1894-1895 the government introduced a bill in the Reich- 
stag which provided a penalty of imprisonment for not longer 
than two years or a fine of not more than six hundred marks, 
in case of derogatory expressions publicly directed against 
religion, monarchy, marriage, family or property.^ The aim 
of the government was to combat the rising social democracy, 
and in order to do that the law had to be all-embracing. 
Freiherr von Stumm, one of the stanchest supporters of the 
government, expressly stated that the intention was to put 
down by ^' the iron hand" all opposition to authority wher- 
ever found. " Though I have said some hard things against 
the employer of labour, yet I am willing to acknowledge a 
shadow of excuse for him, viz., the coquet- g^^^j^gi^ B^j^gg^j 
ting of certain learned circles with social state and Uni- 
democracy — or, what is the same thing, with ^^rsiy. 
revolution, as was the case shortly before the French Revolu- 
tion. Gentlemen, right here in Berlin has been developed a 
complete university socialism. Every professor, especially in 
political economy, who does not fall in with socialistic views 

' " . . . welcher in einer der bffentlichen Frieden gefalirdenden 
^Veise die Religion., die Monarchie, die Ehe., die Familie., oder das Eigen- 
thum durch heschimpfende Aeusserungen offentlich angreift."" 



414 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

is boycotted, as was the case in France ; he is persecuted, 
pronounced unscientific and is never advanced. Under such 
influences our future officials are being trained ! Things 
have come to such a pass that the attempt is being made to 
bring the social democratic students into closer association 
with the others. ... A certain part of the Evangelical 
Church is directly aiding the democrats. The civil service is 
becoming tainted. It is high time that something be done. 
This bill is the first step toward a cure. Its great advantage 
is that it reaches not only the law-breakers, but those who 
directly or indirectly incite to crime. There can be no ex- 
ceptions ; there can be no law of exceptions." 

Another speaker, a representative of the powerful Catholic 
'' Centre," which is stronger since the election of 1898 than 
ever, disclosed the attitude of the clerical party toward the 
freedom of the university. '' This protection of the German 
professor is, in my opinion, exceedingly imprudent and wrong. 
Imprudent — for how can we prevent the people from saying 
and doing precisely what these professors are saying in their 
lecture-rooms, repeating in popular forms and writing in 
their books ? It is sheer nonsense to permit in the upper 
strata what is forbidden in the lower. And more — it is 
wrong. The great danger comes not from below, but from 
above."! 

The astonishment produced by this debate among progres- 
sive university men can well be imagined. It had an inqaisi- 
tional sound that harmonized ill with nine- 
^eachi^ '^ teenth century ideals. So great indignation was 
aroused, and so fierce opposition, that the gov- 
ernment abandoned the bill. The principle, however, that 
was involved has not been abandoned. Very recently another 
attempt has been made to stifle free speech in the universities 
of Prussia ; and it has partially succeeded, in that men of 
known progressive views have been put aside for those who 
will yield to authority. But no one really believes that the 

* See my paper on The University Crisis in Germany, Educational 
Review, April, 1895. 



GERMAN SECONDARY EDUCATION 415 

universities will give up their iudependeiice. When the 
university falls, the throne will go with it. The one ex- 
presses the traditional love for personal liberty ; the other 
embodies the national sense of law, order and authority. 
These two irreconcilable facts are characteristic of the Ger- 
man mind. 

In one important respect the universities, contradicting 
themselves, join hands with the bureaucracy in perpetuating 
class distinctions. Theoretically, it is the pride 
of the German university that its doors are University 
open to all, high or low, rich or poor, democrat 
or royalist ; practically, however, the universities are to blame 
for the present chaotic condition of secondary education. 
The '^ gymnasial monopoly " has been fostered in season and 
out of season by the great majority of university men. Even 
the medical faculties, supposedly composed of scientific men, 
and imbued with the modern spirit, have repeatedly rejected 
all overtures from the Realgymnasien. It is Fosters 
impossible to give a satisfactory excuse for such Gymnasial 
action on the part of an institution which pro- onopoiy. 
fessedly stands for equality and freedom, and which prides 
itself on recognising no distinctions but those of worth. 
Lernfreiheit is the necessary corollary of freedom in teaching. 
A university bureaucracy that attempts to deprive students 
of the benefits of higher study for which they are fully pre- 
pared (as is granted by all who are best qualified to judge in 
the matter of admitting graduates of the Eealgymnasiu7ti to 
the study of medicine) deserves itself to be subjected to some 
higher power. 

The truth is, that at bottom this question, like a good 
many others that interrogate educationists, is one of expe- 
diency. It involves class distinctions. The Gymnashmi is 
the aristocratic school, and he who would be counted among 
the elect must tread its narrow path. The physician who 
has completed the gymnasial course is socially correct, and 
that covers a multitude of sins. 

The boasted freedom of the universities is again contra- 



416 GERMAN HIOHER SCHOOLS 

dieted in their attitude toward the education of women. No 

one expects the state to be liberal, but liberality is looked 

Opposes ^^^' ^^^ ^^^® highest educational centres of the 

Admission couutrj. But witli wliat results ? Determined, 

of Women. almost fanatical opposition to the extension 
of university privileges to women. I do not refer now to the 
general policy in girls' education, for in the main I am in 
hearty accord with it. Ninety per cent., or more, of German 
women are better off with the German training than they 
would be with the results of such a system as is in vogue in 
England and America. But for those v>^omen who desire to 
secure a broader education than is afforded by the girls' 
schools, and who can easily enough take up university work 
and profit from it, there can be no valid reason for keeping 
them out. It makes one lose faith in the ideals of university 
enlightenment. But that would be judging a German institu- 
tion from an American stand-point. It is difficult for us to 
realize the strength of tradition in the German universities. 
Indeed, if it were not for this very potent force, the radical 
tendencies in university life would long ago have been their 
destruction. But whatever the reason, it remains a fact that, 
while women have gained access to university study, the doors 
are being opened very slowly and with unusual circumspec- 
tion. In effect, the universities have joined with the bureau- 
cracy in upliolding the gymnasial monopoly, not only against 
the advocates of a modern humanistic training, but against 
the advocates of classical training as well, if it happens to have 
been taken by a woman. 

The precedent has been established of admitting graduates 

of girls' Gymnasien to university study. Prussia and Baden 

grant them the privilege of taking the regular 

'^Qu^tion^^ ^(^t'^^'^Mtsprilfung, In 1896 six girls from 
one school took the final examination set for 
the boys of a Berlin Gymnasium, and received high rank. 
Four or five other schools are graduating classes of six or 
eight. As yet the movement is in its infancy ; the time will 
come when another Schulfrage, infinitely more troublesome 



GERMAN SECONDARY EDUCATION 417 

than any of its predecessors, will confront German education- 
ists and demand a hearing. 

The general policy of Germany in respect to woman's edu- 
cation is, in my opinion, eminently satisfactory. The masses 
of women receive a far better trainino^ than the ^ , „ ,. 

, IT- General Policy 

American plan would give them under similar in woman's 
conditions. Life is hard, but it is not the fault Education. 
of the schools. A university, or even a high school, training 
for every woman would not lessen the ills of militarism ; no 
amount of higher education would nullify the aggression of 
foreign powers. '' Let us not forget,'' says an ardent advo- 
cate of the higher education of women, " that the most press- 
ing necessity is not found in universities for women, nor in 
the participation of women in the scientific labour of the 
times, nor in the opening of higher professions for women, 
but in the care and extensive education of the millions of 
girls — indeed, for the education of the mothers of the coming 
generation. The graceful structures of a higher education 
and the capstone of the edifice will remain insecure until 
they can rest upon the broad and secure foundation of a gen- 
eral education of the people. A state which neglects this 
and promotes higher education exclusively, works for show 
and neglects the general weal of the people, while it may sat- 
isfy the desires and claims of a noisy minority. Let us not 
forget that more important than the results of intellectual 
education, which are easily recognised and estimated, are the 
ethical effects of education which are taken into life and 
manifest themselves as determination of the will — a quality 
which is not easily estimated, because not visible to the eye.'' ^ 
The government seconds this view by publishing the ad- 
dress in the official organ of the education department. The 
poverty of the state is urged as the sole excuse for not grant- 
ing financial aid to girls' schools. ^'^^ As yet the lecture-rooms 

' Dr. Waetzoldt, provincial inspector of schools, in Centralhlatt for 
1895, p. 741. The entire address is translated in the Report of the Com- 
missioner of Education, 1894-1895. 
27 



418 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

of our universities are open only to very few women ; as yet 
the professions which do not agree with the constitutions of 
women, and for which the state demands an academic prep- 
aration, are still closed to them, while in other 
Financial civilized states the women have succeeded in 

Considerations. . 

securing admission. Is this fact explamed 
simply by an unjust valuation of woman's work, by the un- 
dervaluation of woman's capacity, by the imperiousness of 
man and his anxiety lest woman's competition will interfere 
with his success ? Let me say, first, that the state with us 
is not only a police institution to protect life and property, 
but its object is the promotion and equalization of all inter- 
ests and culture. It is obliged to ask, with every newly aris- 
ing ilaim, whether and how far it meets recognised needs. It 
is a sound and safe policy of the public-school authorities 
not to interfere with things that are only beginning and de- 
veloping, but to give time and space for healthy growth ; 
not to feed and nurse young forms artificially, but to wait 
patiently and see whether they have a vigorous life and find 
good soil among the people. To remodel anything ancient 
that has long stood the test, in order to introduce something 
new that has not yet proved its value, is always doubtful. 
Now, with us, as it is well understood, the condition for aca- 
demic or university study is the graduation diploma, which 
is granted alone by classical high schools, called Gymnasien, 
for young ladies. Shall the state establish them ? Prussia 
is not wealthy enough for that, and should we really lead our 
girls upon an educational path which is exclusively designed 
and planned for boys intending to devote themselves to the 
higher professions and offices of the state ? Shall we for the 
girls fix a course of study with the authority of the state, a 
course which many and many of us think badly needs reform ? 
When, as in Berlin, Leipsic and Carlsruhe, private Gymnasien 
for girls were established in order to give them an education 
such as the boys' schools offer, the state authorities certainly 
did not interfere or prohibit them. The first Prussian female 
graduate has passed her examination well. That which is 



GERMAN SECONDARY EDUCATION 419 

wanting in the realm of higher education of women here in 
Germany is not so much favours from the state as from great 
philanthropists, such as Rockefeller and Ilolloway, and wealthy 
corporations, such as the Brewers^ Guild in London, who 
gave large donations for the higher education of women. 
Such means flow very scantily in Germany, as the interest 
for our aspirations is not very extended as yet among the 
people. More pressing needs claim the strength and means 
of the state. ^^1 

Such excuses, however, have little influence on the minds 
of the women of Germany who demand equal rights for their 
sex. They insist that not only should the uni- 
versities be opened to women who are prepared ^"^q^^^*^^ ^°^ 
to enter, but also that they should be admitted 
to the professions of teaching and medicine. Forty-five per 
cent, of the women of the upper classes have no chance to 
marry, for the simple reason that the men who are their 
equals hesitate to incur the expense. They will not be de- 
pendent ; they must have equal rights with men. They ask 
no favours from the state, except the opportunity to demon- 
strate their ability to undertake university study and profes- 
sional employment. 

Such arguments are convincing, and are bound in time to 
win their way. At present, however, the government is en- 
gaged in checking the growth of Gymnasien 
for girls. In April, 1898, a petition from Bres- interference, 
lau for permission to establish such a school 
was curtly refused by the Prussian ministry. When the 
government was interpellated in the Diet by the member 
from Breslau, the minister of public instruction gave, as his 
chief reason for denying the petition, the answer that the 
proper function of women was to be intelligent helpmates to 
men, that equal rights involved the sharing of burdens as 
well as privileges, and that until women were ready to enter 
the army and serve in the Reserve and Landwehr the govern- 



Centralblatt^ 1895, p. 469-470. 



420 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

ment could not consistently advocate unrestricted compe- 
tition of the sexes. Later in the summer, if press accounts 
are reliable, the national association of physicians and sur- 
geons, in a meeting at Wiesbaden, resolved that with their 
permission no woman should study medicine. The reasons 
alleged for this action were that woman is by nature unfit for 
scientific work ; her mental powers are acquisitive rather than 
inventive ; memory and imagination, rather than observation 
and reason, are the faculties on which she naturally relies. 
In short, they are in accord with the emperor's dictum that 
woman's province is Kilclie, Kinder und Kir die — cooking, 
children and church. 

It will be seen that the ^^ woman question " will soon super- 
sede the ''^ Greek question.'' There would be no serious con- 
sequences from the discussion of either were it 
^^"!!-^°5^^^^^ not that class and sex preiudices are involved. 

Distinctions. ^ '' 

As it is, neither problem can be satisfactorily 
solved until society is reorganized on a basis of equality of op- 
portunity and freedom of choice for all. The gravest defect 
in the German school system is the organization which fosters 
distinctions of class and sex. The common schools are for 
the common people ; the Eeal-schooh are for the middle 
classes ; the classical schools are for the aristocracy ; and in 
secondary education the sexes are kept apart. The lines of 
cleavage are distinctly marked, and in practice generally ob- 
served. Were conditions otherwise, there would be no quib- 
bling over an Einlieitsscliule. If class prejudice did not 
exist, one high school could easily perform all the functions 
of secondary education by the simple arrangement of elective 
subjects. But class distinctions do obtain in German society, 
and are not likely soon to be obliterated. Hence differentiation 
in school organization is inevitable. It may be theoretically 
deplorable, but it is a practical necessity in German society. 

No such axiom as that the school exists for the pupil is re- 
cognised in German educational philosophy. The German 
school exists primarily for the state. The pupil is a citizen in 
training. That he should be an obedient, loyal, submissive 



GERMAN SECONDARY EDUCATION 421 

subject is a self-evident truth. Kespect for authority is the 
one essential prerequisite to German citizenship. In the 
selection of a school and the course of study, 
in seeking admission to the university and the "^"NaUonaUsm '^^ 
vocations of civil life, the individual has little 
freedom of choice. The rigorous discipline of the schools, 
which brooks no opposition and tolerates no parental inter- 
ference; the methods of instruction, which leave nothing 
to chance and individual initiative ; the system of privileges, 
which dominates teachers and pupils alike — all tend to the 
development of character which feels no restriction of per- 
sonal liberty in the constant surveillance of the police and 
the rule of a military despotism. The social institutions, the 
school system and the methods of instruction in Germany 
are calculated to beget dependence on authority, rather than 
independence and freedom of action. Individualism in edu- 
cation yields to paternalism in government. German society 
is founded on the principle that the greatest good of each is 
included in the greatest good of all, rather than on the prin- 
ciple that the greatest good of all is subserved by the highest 
individual development of each. 

It is to the credit of the German school system that it is 
thoroughly German ; that it promotes German culture and 
German civilization ; that it strives to realize ^ c i, i 

' ^ ^ ^ German Schools 

German ideals in the social, industrial and for German 
political life of the German people. The for- ^^°p^^- 
eigner may not admire German ideals, he may even despise 
German culture and German civilization ; but if he is an ob- 
servant school-master, he cannot fail to admire the practical 
workings of the German schools. The sole test that can rea- 
sonably be applied is adaptation of means to ends ; and, 
judged by this standard, it must be acknowledged that the 
German schools are master-pieces of intelligent design. To 
criticise them for not serving other ends is like criticising a 
delicately adjusted watch for not recording changes in tem- 
perature. So long as schools remain social institutions de- 
signed to realize in the young the ideals of the social whole. 



422 GERMAN HIGHER SCHOOLS 

so long must they be regarded entirely apart from national 
and racial prejudices. It follows that, just in proportion as 
German schools are German are they un-American, and in- 
capable of satisfying American needs. It is not to be ex- 
pected, therefore, that the German system or German meth- 
ods can be directly applicable to American schools. Only in 

so far as German education is concerned with 
The Point of ^j^^ development of man as man, apart from his 

relations to any particular society or special 
end, can it be immediately serviceable. To be sure, much 
can be learned from a comparative study of national school 
systems ; but whatever information is gained from foreign 
sources must be transformed and readjusted to home condi- 
tions. What is eminently fitting in one place may be ill 
adapted to another environment. Each nation must work out 
its own educational salvation in fear and trembling. It is a 
work that should be free from servile imitation, but ever ready 
to profit from the experience of others. The experience of 
Germany can teach us much, if we will but learn to consider 
it aright. Indeed, the future of American civilization and 
the rich blessings of republican institutions will be assured 
if we can interest the best talent of the country in education, 
and evolve a school system which shall be as nicely adjusted 
to our national requirements as the German system is to Ger- 
man needs. 



APPENDICES 



A. The Privileged HiaHER Schools of Germany m 1897. 

B. Attendance in Higher Schools of Prussia. 

C. System of Privileges. 

D. Salary Schedules. 

E. Pensions of Teachers in Higher Schools of Germany. 

F. Extracts from the Pension Laws of Prussia. 

G. Leading Educational Journals of Germany. 



APPENDIX A 

THE PRIVILEGED HIGHER SCHOOLS OF GER- 
MANY IN 1897 
Statistisches Jahrbuch der Hoheren Schulen^ 1897-1898. 





8 


CO* 

1 


j 


1 


1 
-2 


1 


|1 


ll 


Other 
Schools. 




5 

16 
6 
5 


> 




277 

40 

17 

16 

14 

9 

7 

3 

3 

1 

2 

2 
2 

4 
2 
1 
1 

1 
2 
1 
2 
1 
2 
2 
17 

439 
436 


53 

26 

"4 
2 
2 


85 
5 

10 
3 
2 
3 
6 

"2 

■ i 

2 

1 
1 
2 


67 

'"4 
5 

1 

1 


26 

3 

.... 
1 


60 

46 

23 

9 

14 

16 

2 

1 

2 

1 

1 

2 


i 

1 


114 
12 
18 
6 
4 
3 
1 


19 


2. Bavaria 


6 

6 


4. Wiirtemberg 


2 




2 


6 Hesse 


2 


7. Mecklenbnrg-Schwerin 

S Mpr»V1pnhnrc-Rt'rplit'7 




9 Saxe- Weimar 




2 


"i 

.... 










...... 


1 

1 
1 
2 
1 
1 




12 Saxe-Meiningen 








14 Saxe Coburg-Gotha 


2 

1 




1 
1 
2 




.... 


15. Anhalt 




16. Schwarzburg-Sondershansen 




'!:. 


.... 


2 

1 

1 

.... 

1 
.... 

1 






18. Waldeck . .. 














19. Reuss, a. L 

20. Reuss, j. L 

21. Schaumburg-Lippe 

22 LioDe-Detmold .... 




... 




1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
6 


"i 

32 
33 

—1 




"4 


.... 

2 

1 




. . . 






23 Lttbeck 


"3 


1 
2 
6 

8 














6 


26. Alsace-Lorraine 








Total in 1897 


92 
92 


128 
129 


93 

98 


40 
35 


198 
183 


2 
2 


181 
170 


56 


Total in 1896 


56 






Changes ... 


+ 3 


±0 


—1 


—5 


+ 5 


+ 15 


±0 


+ 11 


±0 




Total n 


1145 + 28-1173 
umber=117o + 88=1261. 




89— 


1=88 



425 





S 


CD 




C/J 


f~i 




^ 


<:r> 




Ph 


Oi 




Ph 


00 




ph 


sT 




o 


5h 




O) 


•§ 




t-1 


-^ 




o 
o 


^5^ 


PQ 


w 


•1 


M 


o 

r/1 


M 




c 


P 


pa 




^2; 


W 


t^ 


^ 


w 


'^ 


Ph 


o 



w 



o 
P 

<1 



V. 





1 


oooog 






B 


•3 
1 


eo i> M< 05 •<3< ,-.^00 ,..^,-.,^.^^^£0 ioco-*(r*iooint-OT-iTr»r30oa> 


ri T-i ri rH <r* ^— ff* — ^>^— "^^ lOioioiniQiOidioinioifjifiiflo 


1 


1 


OOOOiO to g 05 eo tH OD Oi :C rr (TJ lO «5 as rH t- :c o 

t-"^-^" ^^(© ^t-'t-' j4r4'««f CO ^'jn t-*QO jHco'eo c* w" 


1 


«^==l5S38£^£SS^5§^g^^^gig5§{§SS 


1! •§ 


g 
1 


oooooooooooco^govt-jOrHinosi-nnt^oscor-. 
t4 Tf rf -^ »n id iQ »o lo" io --a^ -^ <» 05 o« 


00 

1 
1 


ooocoooooo 


1 

Or3C«(M(N'1<COO»T-i^005 Oi IN O ■>1' 






-2 

i 






1,831 

10,130 

(?) 
17,086 

(?) 
16.389 
16.511 
10,4-.'8 
10, .520 
10,479 
10,450 
10.595 
11,069 
10,926 
10.454 
10,217 
10,085 
9,677 
8,667 
7,820 


§ 


oooo^5g££rg^g|goooogggg^gg^o.^ 


1 

1 
1 

1 

1 


i 

s 




1 
J. 

c 
<s> 

o 


°=°°g£SSSS£gSi8SSSgS38gS§8fe^ 


2^P^j> S S S^ « CO £^,-1 eo.M'!§Seoo;^?DS5^555^« 


ai 
1 


S^^g§o3S£^§l 


g?J§S^^?3§§^g5?§^!^^:S^^ 




g 

1 


cc;oo5 T-if ■^iw«ftcocoo:ooooeoaJir-oii--rH«;eo 


O CO CO i-H >0 »0 ^^GO 00 ^-,lO OT-i??e0I:-c35e0Tr«Dl-O»-<C*-<»"* 


p: 















426 



APPENDIX C 

SYSTEM OF PRIVILEGES 

The following table shows the rights and privileges attached 
to the completion of the various grades of the higher schools 
of Germany (arranged from Rein^s Encyclopaedia, the Central- 
blatt and Statistisches Jahrbuch de?' hdliere7i Schulen). 

A. Civil Service. 



3. 

4(a). 



4(b). 
4(c). 



Study of Theology and Admission to State Examination . . . 

Study of Law and Political Science and Admission to State 
Examination 

Study of Medicine and Admission to State Examination. . . 

Study of Ancient Philology and History; Teachers' Cer- 
tificate 

Study of Modern Languages ; Teachers' Certificate 

Study of Mathematics and Natural Sciences ; Teachers' 
Certificate 

Study of Architecture and Mechanical Engineering ; State 
Examination 

Study of Forestry ; State Examination 

Study of Mining Engineering ; State Examination 

Admission to Schools of Agriculture ■ ... 

Admission to Academies of Art 

Admission to Higher Postal and Telegraph Service 

Admission to Customs Service 

State Examination for Surveying 

Telegraph Inspectorship at State Railways 

Study of Dentistry and Admission to State Examination.. . 

Study of Veterinary Medicine ; State Examination 

Study of Pharmacy ; State Examination for Druggists 

Admission to Imperial Bank Service 

Subaltern Service, in Dept. of Justice, in Provincial Service 
and State Railway Service 

Admission to Horticultural Institute at Potsdam 





Real- 


Ober- 




gymna- 


real- 




sium. 


schule. 


lA. 






lA.i 






lA. 






lA. 






lA. 


lA. 




lA. 


lA. 


lA. 


IA.2 


lA. 


lA. 


lA.s 


IA.3 


IA.3 


lA. 


lA. 


lA. 


IIB. 


IIB. 


IIB. 


IIB. 


IIB. 


IIB. 


lA. 


lA. 


lA. 


IB. 


IB. 


IB. 


IIA. 


IIA. 


IIA. 


IIA. 


IIA. 


IIA. 


IIA. 


IIA. 





IIA. 


IIA. 




IIB. 


IIB. 




IIB. 


IIB. 


IIB. 


IIB. 


IIB. 


IIB. 


IIB. 


IIB. 


IIB.« 



1 Wiirtemberg and Bavaria admit graduates of Realgi/mnasien to the study of Finance 
and the State Service. 

2 Graduates of Gymnasien in Wiirtemberg must show a knowledge of English. 

3 '^ Good" in mathematics is required of all candidates. 

4 And Latin enough to enter IIIA. 

427 



428 



APPENDIX G. 



B. MiLiTAKY Service. 



20. Exemption from Ensign's Examination 

21. Exemption from Midshipman's Examination 

22. Admission to Ensign's Examination 

23. Admission to Midshipman's Examination 

24. Study of Farriery ; Admission to State Examination. 

25. Paymastership in Army and Subaltern Supervisory Service 

26. Admission to Marine Superintendency 

27. Superintending Secretaryship at Imperial Wharves 

28. Study of Ship-Building and Engineering ; State Exam, 

29. Exemption from One Year of Service in Army 

30. Paymastership in Navy 



Gymna- 
sium. 


Beal- 
gymna- 






lA. 


lA. 


IA.« 


lA.i 


IIA. 


IIA. 


IIA. 


IIA. 


IIA. 


IIA. 


IIA. 


IIA. 


IB.2 


IB.2 


IB.3 


IB.3 


lA. 


lA. 


IIB. 


IIB. 


IIIA. 


IIIA. 



Ober- 

real- 
sehule. 



lA. 
IIB. 



1 " Good " in English isTequired of all candidates. 

2 Candidates for Paymastershipa need only pass IIA. 

3 English is required. 



APPENDIX D 

SALARY SCHEDULES — ARRANGED AND CON- 
DENSED FROM OFFICIAL SOURCES 



I. SALARIES OF TEACHERS IN THE HIGHER SCHOOLS OP 

PRUSSIA. 

A. ScJiooIs Supported ly the State and Schools u?ider State 
Control. 

According to the scale of salaries (based on length of ser- 
vice) instituted by the law of May 4, 1892, and modified 
April 1, 1897, the teachers are divided into six classes : 

1. Principals of complete (nine years' course) schools. 

a. In Berlin : 

Initial salary, 6,000 marks ; after 3 years, 6,400 ; after 6 
years, 6,800 ; after 9 years, 7,200. 

b. In cities of more than 50,000 inhabitants : 
Initial salary, 5,100 marks; after 3 years, 5,600; after 6 

years, 6,000 ; after 9 years, 6,400 ; after 12 years, 6,800 ; after 
15 years, 7,200. 

c. In all other places : 

Initial salary, 4,800 marks; after 3 years, 5,300; after 6 
years, 5,700 ; after 9 years, 6,100 ; after 12 years, 6,500 ; after 
15 years, 6,900. 

2. Principals of incomplete (six years' course) schools. 

a. In Berlin and cities of more than 50,000 inhabi- 
tants : 
Initial salary, 5,100 marks ; after 3 years, 5,400 ; after 6 
years, 5,700 ; after 9 years, 6,000. 

429 



430 APPENDIX D 

b. In all other places : 

Initial salary, 4,500 marks; after 3 years, 4,800; after 6 
years, 5,100; after 9 years, 5,400; after 12 years, 5,700; after 
15 years, 6,000. 

If no dwelling is provided, principals under Classes 1 and 
2 also receive an allowance for house rent from 600 to 1,500 
marks, according to the size of the city. 

3. Permanently appointed regular teachers {definitw ange- 
st elite luissenschaftliclie Lelirer) : 

Initial salary, 2,700 marlvs; after 3 years, 3,000; after 6 
years, 3,300 ; after 9 years, 3,600 ; after 12 years, 3,900 ; after 
15 years, 4,200; after 18 years, 4,500 ; after 21 years, 4,800 ; 
after 24 years, 5,100. 

One-half of tho total number of those teachers employed 
in the complete schools, as well as one-fourth of those em- 
ployed in the incomplete schools, receive the additional sum 
(Zulage) of 900 marks a year. This allowance is granted, 
whenever a vacancy occurs, for excellence in scholarship and 
skill in teaching. 

4. Permanently appointed drawing teachers {definitiv ange- 
stellte Zeiclienlelirer), also teachers of technical and elemen- 
tary subjects and teachers in preparatory schools (Vorschnlen) 
of Berlin : 

Initial salary, 1,800 marks ; after 3 years, 2,000 ; after 6 
years, 2,200; after 9 years, 2,400; after 12 years, 2,600; 
after 15 years, 2,800 ; after 18 years, 3,000 ; after 21 years, 
3,200 ; after 24 years, 3,400 ; after 27 years, 3,600. 

5. Teachers of technical and elementary subjects and 
teachers in preparatory schools outside of Berlin : 

Initial salary, 1,500 marks ; after 3 years, 1,700; after 6 
years, 1,900 ; after 9 years, 2,100 ; after 12 years, 2,250 ; after 
15 years, 2,400 ; after 18 years, 2,550 ; after 21 years, 2,700 ; 
after 24 years, 2,850 ; after 27 years, 3,000. 

6. Regular assistant teachers {wissenscliaftUche Hilf deliver) : 
Initial salary, 1,700 marks ; after 2 years, 1,900 ; after 3 

years, 2,100. 

Besides their salaries, teachers of Classes 3 and 4 receive an 



I. 


II. 


III. 


IV. 


V. 


660 


540 


480 


420 


360 


432 


360 


300 


216 


160 



APPENDIX D 431 

allowance for house rent, according to the size of the city in 
which the school is located, varying from Berlin to cities of 
the fifth-class, as follows : 

(Berlin) 

Class 3 900 

Class 4 540 

The time of service is counted : 

(1) For principals, from the time of appointment as prin- 
cipal of a higher school; 

(2) For regular teachers, from the time of permanent ap- 
pointment, from which time they are also entitled to a pension; 

(3) For drawing teachers; and 

(4) For teachers of technical and elementary subjects and 
teachers in preparatory schools, from the day of permanent 
appointment in public service (service in excess of four years 
before permanent appointment may also be counted) ; 

(5) For regular assistant teachers, from the day of appoint- 
ment to a position of not less than 1,500 marks a year. 

Time spent in higher-school service abroad, also time spent 
either at home or abroad as instructor at a university, as super- 
visor of schools, or in church service, may be taken into ac- 
count by tlie Minister of Public Instruction either in whole or 
in part. Similarly, a principal may have so much of his pre- 
vious service as regular teacher counted in his time of service 
as is necessary to make his salary equal the salary he would 
have received if he liad continued to serve as regular teacher 
{wissenscliaftUcher Lehrer). 

B. Higher Schools which Receive Suhsidies frorn the State. 

The regulations concerning salaries, their increase and 
house-rent allowances, enumerated under A, apply also to 
these schools, with the following limitations : 

(1) The acceptance of the above-mentioned time of foreign 
service, church service, university service and school super- 
vision depends on a mutual agreement between the teacher 
and the financial supporters of the school. 



432 APPENDIX D 

(2) The Minister of Public Instruction can, on application 
by tiie financial supporters of a school, exempt principals and 
fully occupied {vollhescliaeftigte) drawing teachers from the 
system of increase of salaries by length of service, whenever 
the new law would interfere with the steady promotion of the 
teachers toward the highest salary. 

(3) The financial supporters of a school can exempt '^^ reg- 
ular " teachers from the operation of the new law, under spe- 
cial regulations by the Minister for the particular school or 
for a number of schools. In that case the average salary of 
regular teachers in state schools (2100 + 4500 = GG00 ; 6600-^ 
2=3300) is taken as many times as there are positions, and 
the sum is divided among the teachers in amounts from 2,100 
to 4,500 marks, according to the ratios provided by the nor- 
mal schedule for state schools. (This calculation is made on 
the old schedule — before April, 1897.) 

(4) The income of fully employed teachers of technical 
and elementary subjects, and of teachers in ^' preparatory " 
schools not coming under A, Jf., is to be fixed within the 
limits given under A, 5 ; so that their income shall not fall 
lower than that of the common school teachers ( Volksschul- 
lelirer) in the given locality. Besides, these teachers are to 
receive an additional allowance of not less than 150 marks a 
year. 

C. Higher Schools not under State Control and Receiving 
no Support from the State {Nicht-staatliche hohere Schulen). 

According to the law of July 2, 1892, the regulations of the 
Normal Etat of May 4, 1892, also apply to these schools, with 
the following limitations : 

The municipality may resolve that promotions of regular 
teachers in salary in the municipal schools shall be made 
according to special regulations provided for one particular 
city or for a number of cities. In that case the method of 
procedure is the same as that mentioned under B, 3. For 
principals and fully employed drawing teachers the same 
exceptions can be made by the Minister of Public Instruction. 



APPENDIX D 433 

The average salaries on which calculations are made are ac- 
cordingly : 

1. For principals of complete (nine years' course) schools : 

a. In Berlin, 6,000 marks (unalterable, by the law of 

1892) ; 

b. In cities of more than 50,000 inhabitants, 5,550 

marks ; 

c. In all other places, 5,250 marks. 

2. Principals of incomplete (six years' course) schools : 

a. In Berlin and cities of more than 50,000 inhabitants, 

5,250 marks ; 

b. In all other places, 4,950 marks. 

3. Permanently employed regular teachers, 3,300 marks ; 
in addition to which the extra allowance of 900 marks for a 
certain number of teachers must be considered (see A, 3). If 
the number of regular teachers in a nine-year school is not 
divisible by two, or the number in a six-year school is not di- 
visible by four, the remaining positions are not entitled to the 
allowance of 900 marks. But those incomplete schools where 
less than four regular teachers are employed must provide 
one such allowance (Zulage), if it employs a teacher who by 
length of service and efficiency would be entitled to it in a 
state school. 

4. Fully employed drawing teachers, 2,400 marks. Per- 
manently employed but not fully engaged drawing teachers, 
also other teachers of technical subjects and teachers coming 
from seminaries, come under B, J^. Regular assistant teachers 
come unexceptionally under A, 6. 



II. SALARIES OF TEACHERS IK THE HIGHER SCHOOLS OF 

BAVARIA. 

The teachers are divided into four classes : 

1. Eectors ; 

2. Professors ; 

3. Higher-school teachers ( Gy7nnasiallehrer) ; 

4. Assistants. 

38 



434: APPENDIX D 

The following table gives the salaries of the first three 
classes : 

Initial Increases 

Salary. every 5 years. After 20 years. 

Class 1 4,920. . . .360. . . . 6,000 marks. 

Class 2 3,720. . . .360. . . .5,220 " 

Class 3 2,280 .... 180 .... 3,540 '' 

Rectors are generally provided with a dwelling — if not, 
there is a special grant of 540 marks annually for house rent. 
Professors get 420 marks, Gymnasiallehrer 180 marks, for 
house rent. Assistant teachers are not entitled to a pension, 
and receive 1,323-1,800 marks a year. 

For the first three classes, after a period of 20 years the 
quinquennial increase is only 180 marks. 

III. SALARIES OF TEACHERS IN" THE HIGHER SCHOOLS OF 

SAXONY. 

1. In the twelve royal Gy^iinasien and three royal Real- 
gymnasien the teachers receive : 

a. 15 rectors, 6,600-7,200 (average, 6,900) marks and 

free rent, or 900-1,200 marks for house rent ; 

b. 261 regular teachers {ivissenscliaftUclie Lclirer), 

2,400-6,000 (average, 4,000) marks ; 

c. 32 special teachers, 1,500-2,100 (average, 1,800) 

marks ; 

d. 3 teachers of agriculture and commercial science, 

2,700-5,000 (average, 4,000) marks; 

e. 21 technical teachers, 1,500-4,000 (average, 2,850) 

marks. 

2. In the four municipal Gymnasien and Realgymnasien 
in Dresden the salaries are as follows : 

a. Kectors, 6,600 marks and free rent ; also two quin- 

quennial increases of 300 marks each, i.e., to 7,200 
marks ; 

b. Conrectors (associate principals), 5,500 marks, an 

increase of 300 marks after 5 years and 200 marks 
after 10 years, i.e., to 6,000 marks ; 



APPENDIX D 435 

c. Head-teachers (Oberlehrer), 76 regular positions, 
divided into eight classes: 

I. 10 positions at 4,500 marks. 
11. 10 positions at 4,200 marks. 

III. 9 positions at 3,900 marks. 

IV. 9 positions at 3,600 marks. 
V. 9 positions at 3,300 marks. 

VI. 9 positions at 3,000 marks. 

VII. 10 positions at 2,700 marks. 

VIII. 10 positions at 2,400 marks. 

Moreover, Class IX. contains 5 special positions at 2,100 
and 5 at 1,800 marks. 

In addition to these salaries, each teacher receives an in- 
crease of 300 marks after 5 years, 300 after 10 years and 400 
after 15 years of service (counting from the time of his ap- 
pointment as assistant). 

The average salary of the teachers embraced by Classes I. 
to VII. is 4,100 marks. 

3. The salaries in the three Gyuinasien at Leipsic are 
somewhat higher : 

a. 3 rectors, 6,900 marks ; after 5 years, 7,200 ; after 

10 years, 7,500, and free rent or 1,050 marks; 

b. 3 conrectors, 5,700 marks ; 

c. 70 head-teachers (O^erMrer) : 6 positions at 5,100, 

4,800, 4,500, 4,200, 4,000, 3,800, 3,600, 3,300, 
3,000, 2,700 marks, respectively; 5 at 2,400, and 
5 at 2,200. 
Assistants get 1,700 marks ; after 2 years, 1,900 ; after 4 
years, 2,100. 

In addition to this, the conrectors, head-teachers and as- 
sistants receive increases of 200, 400 and 600 marks after 6, 
12 and 18 years of service respectively. 

Besides this schedule of salaries, there is a subsidy list 
{Notstafel), guaranteeing certain salaries to teachers who do 
not reach them in the regular manner. According to that 
list, teachers of Gymnasien must receive after 5 years, 2,400 



436 APPENDIX D 

marks; after 10 years, 3,000 ; after 15 years, 3,600 ; after 20 
years, 4,200, and after 25 years, 4,800. 

The regular teachers of gymnastics in all higher schools 
and the regular teachers of drawing in the Eealgymnasium 
receive from January 1, 1893: 

1st to 5th year 2,000 marks. 

6th to 10th '' 2,400 " 

11th to 15th '' 2,800 '^ 

16th to 20th '' 3,100 " 

21st to 25th '' 3,400 '' 

They are engaged 28 hours a week. 

Teachers of these subjects who also hold a regular municipal 
office receive 90 marks a year per week-hour. 



IV. SALARIES OF TEACHERS IN HIGHER SCHOOLS OF WtJR- 

TEMBERG. 

1. The minimum salaries are as follows : 

a. Eectors of Gymnasien, Bealgymnasien and ten-year 

Eealscliuleii, also epliors of elementary theological 
seminaries, 4,400 marks and free rent ; 

b. Rectors of Lyceen, Reallyceen and eight-year Real- 

schiden, 4,200 marks ; 

c. Head-teachers of the higher classes in complete 

schools, 3,600 marks; 

d. Head-teachers of the lower classes in complete 

schools, 2,100 marks ; 

e. Teachers of elementary Latin and Real-schools, 

2,100 marks ; 

f. Assistant-teachers, 1,850 marks. 

Teachers under (b) to (f) receive a rent subsidy ( WoJinimgs- 
gcldzuscliuss) according to the following schedule (since 1889): 

In Stuttgart, 9^ of the salary ; in communities of the sec- 
ond class (more than 6,000 inhabitants), 7^ ; in all other com- 
munities, 6^. But this subsidy is computed not on the pres- 
ent salaries, but on those paid before 1889, when they were 
raised 5^. Before 1889 no rent subsidies were given. 



APPENDIX I) 437 

2. The salaries are raised every 5 years as follows : 

a. Preceptors (Praeceptore^i), Eeal-schoo\ teachers and 

assistants : 
After 5 years, 100 marks ; after 10 years, 300 ; after 15 
years, 400 ; after 20 years, 500 ; after 25 years, 600 ; after 30 
years, 700. 

b. Teachers of lower and middle classes of Gymna- 

sie7i, Realgymnasien^ Lyceen, Really ceen and Real- 
schulen : 
After 10 years, 100 marks ; after 15 years, 200 ; after 20 
years, 300 ; after 25 years, 400 ; after 30 years, 500. 

c. (1) Principals of elementary seminaries, schools 

under 2 (b) and the Burgerschide at Stuttgart : 
After 15 years, 200 marks ; after 20 years, 300 ; after 25 
years, 400 ; after 30 years, 500. 

(2) Head-teachers {Oberlelirer) in elementary semi- 
naries and higher classes of schools under 2 (c) : 
After 15 years, 200 marks ; after 20 years, 300 ; after 25 
years, 400 ; after 30 years, 500. 

These increases in salary are counted for pension. The 
time of service is counted from the first permanent appoint- 
ment. Promotion to higher salaries depends on vacancies. 



APPENDIX E 

PENSIONS OF TEACHEES IN THE HIGHEK 
SCHOOLS OF GERMANY 

Statistisches Jahrluch der Hoheren Schulen, 1897-1898. 





Minimum 
Amount. 


Amounts in Terms 
i OF THE LAbT Sal- 
art After 


Maximum 
Amount. 




. 


.5 

be 




u 

1 

1 


B 

iS 

a 
a 


e 
< 


1 





10 yrs. 


25 yrs. 


40 yrs. 


9 


Q 


1. Prussia and Alsace-Lorraine.. 


Yrs. 

10 

4 
10 
10 
10 

5 
20 

03 



3* 















n 

3 
10 


10 






% 

25 

70 
30 
40 
30 
40 
50 
40 
50 

45 
25 

40 , 

m 

40 1 
40 t 

40 i 
40 i 
30 ! 
40 1 

40 

40 ! 

i 


% 
25 
70 
30 


50 
80 
51 


% 
75 
90 
80 
2 

75 
90 
75 
80 
80 

85.8 
75 
80 
100 
85.8 
80 
80 
66f 
80 
80 
70 
80 
75 
80 
85 


Yrs. 

40 

■■.io" 


75 
100 > 

80 


None. 


3 Saxony .... 


^^ 


4. Wiirtemberg 




5 Baden .... 


30 

50 

"46" 
50 
40.8 
45 
30 
55 
40.8 
40 
40 
33i 
40 
40 
30 
40 

m 

40 
40 


52.5 

72.5 

55 

62.5 

65 

63i 

60 

50 

77.5 

mi 

(i2.5 

50 

62.5 

62.5 

45 

62.5 

70 
62 5 


40 
50 
50 
36 
50 
50 
40 
40 
40 
49 
36 
37 
26 
37 
37 
45 
37 
35 
30 
50 


75 
100 

90 

80 

90 
100 

75 

80 
100 
100 

80 6 

80 

^* 

80 
8(1 
80 
75 
80 
100 


None 


6. Hesse 




7. Mecklenburg-Schwerin 

8. Saxe- Weimar 

9. Oldenburg 


;'j 


10. Brunswick 


<t 


11. Saxe-Meiningen 


u 


12. Saxe-Altenbnrg 

13. SaxeCoburg-Gotha 


3% 
1% 


14 Anhalt . 


Not* 


15. Schwarzburg. Rudolstadt 

16. Schwarzburg-Sondershansen . 

17. Waldeck 

1^. Reuss, a. L . . . 






19. Reuss, j. L 




21. Lippe-Detmold 




22. Liibeck 




23. Bremen .... 















In Mecklenburg-Strelitz the amount of pension depends on the will of the Sovereign. 

1 Reached at seventy years of age. 

2 The teacher pays 2^ toward the pension fund. The pension rises with every year of 
service— (a) If^ forsalaries not higher than 2,400 marks; (b) li^ for those higher than 
2,400 marks. The maximum is reached at forty years of service, and cannot exceed 6,000 
marks. 

'That is, immediately after permanent appointment. 
4 The pension begins to rise \\% only after five years. 
" After fifty years of service the pension reaches 100^. 

438 



APPENDIX F 

EXTKACTS FROM THE GENERAL PENSION LAWS 
OF PRUSSIA OF 1872, 1882, 1884 AND 1890 

1. Every official drawing salary from the state treasury is 
entitled to a pension, if after ten years^ service he becomes in- 
capable, in consequence of bodily injury or physical or mental 
weakness, of performing his duties. But if his disability is 
the result of an injury or disease contracted in the performance 
of his official duties, he is entitled to a pension even before the 
expiration of the ten-year period. Those who have reached 
the age of sixty-five years need not show disability in order to 
receive a pension. 

2. The pension laws do not apply to teachers in universities ; 
but they do apply to teachers and officers in all higher schools, 
normal schools, institutions for the deaf and blind, art schools 
and Biivgei'schulcn. 

3. If an official becomes unable to perform his duties before 
the lapse of the ten-year period, and yet does not come under 
(1), he may be granted a pension with the approval of the 
crown. 

4. A pension amounts to Jf of the last total income if an 
official is retired after ten years' service, H after eleven years' 
service and so on, increasing J^ up to forty years' service. 
This gives a maximum of f f of the last salary. 

5. Regular allowances and supplies, as house rent, fuel, 
etc., if entered on the budget as part of the official's remu- 
neration, are counted for pension. 

Thus, an official with a salary of 4,800 marks and 492 

439 



440 APPENDIX F 

marks for house rent will receive on retirement, after fifteen 
years' service, \^ of 5,292 marks, or 1,764 marks, annually. 

6. An official who accepts voluntarily a position at a lower 
salary than is attached to the office to which he is justly en- 
titled receives on retirement a pension estimated on the basis 
of the higher salary. 

7. Time of service includes time spent (a) under leave of 
absence, (b) in the service of the North German Confedera- 
tion, (c) in the service of the German Empire, (d) in technical 
studies required for admission to the civil service, (e) in the 
trial year of a teacher, (f ) in the military service, and (g) as 
prisoner of war. 

8. Pensions are paid monthly, in advance. 

9. No pension can be transferred or seized for debt. 

10. A pensioner loses the right to state aid (a) when he 
ceases to be a German subject, and (b) when he receives a sal- 
ary for service to the state or empire which, added to his pen- 
sion, exceeds the amount of his original salary. In the latter 
case, he may draw such part of his salary as will make his in- 
come equal to his original salary. 

The pension laws are strictly applicable to teachers in 
schools supported entirely by the state. Patrons of schools 
which are in part supported by the state must provide a pen- 
sion schedule at least as good as the state schedule ; they may 
do better, with the approval of the government. No provision 
is legally made for teachers in private schools and schools not 
under state control. Such teachers must rely on insurance 
companies and organizations for mutual assistance of mem- 
bers. 

Pensions for Widows and Orphans of Prussian 
Higher School Teachers. 

Extracts from Lmvs of 1882 and 1897. 

1. Widows and legitimate children of public officials are 
entitled to pensions, if the official himself was entitled to one. 

2. A widow's pension is four-tenths of the pension which 



APPENDIX F 441 

her husband would have received if he had been regularly 
retired on the day of his death. A widow^s pension, how- 
ever, cannot be less than 216, or more than 2,000, marks. 

3. The pensions of orphans whose mother is living are each 
one-fifth of the widow's pension ; in case of the death of both 
parents, each child receives one-third of the pension to which 
the widow would be entitled. But in no case can the total 
pension paid to the family of a deceased official amount to 
more than he himself would have received upon retirement. 

4. A widow is not entitled to a pension if married to the 
deceased within three months of his death, and it is proved 
that she married him for sake of the pension. 

5. Neither the widow nor her children are entitled to a 
pension if the marriage occurred after the officiaFs retirement. 

6. Pensions of widows and orphans are paid monthly, in 
advance. 

7. Such pensions cannot be transferred or seized for debt. 

8. The pension of a widow or an orphan lapses upon the 
death or marriage of the person receiving it. An orphan's 
pension lapses when the person reaches the age of eighteen 
years. 



APPENDIX G 

LEADING EDUCATIONAL JOURNALS OP GER- 
MANY 

Editobs. Titles. 

Salvisberg : Academische Eevue^ Munich. 

HoRNEMANN : BldUer fUr Hbheres Schiihvesen^ Leipsic. 

Melber : Blaiter fiir das BdyeriscJie Gymyiasialschulwesen.^ Munich. 

KuRZ : Blatter fiir das Bdyerische Realschulwesen^ Munich. 

(Official) : GentralUatt fur die Gesammie Unterrichts- Verwaltung in 

Preussen^ Berlin. 
Strack, Freytag and Bottger : Centralorgan fiir die Interessen des 

Realschulwesens^ Berlin. 
Uhlig : Das Ilumanistische Gymnasium^ Heidelberg. 
Mann : Deuische BldUer fiir Erziehenden UnterricM^ Langensalza. 
ScHiLLMAN : Deutsche Schvlgesetz-Sammlung^ BerUn. . 
ViETOR : Die Neueren Sprachen^ Marburg. 
Hettner : Geographische Zeitschrift^ Leipsic. 
Bender and Ramsler : Koo'respondenzhlatt fiir die Gelehrien- und Real- 

schulen Wilrtembergs^ Stuttgart. 
Fries and Meier : Lehrprohen und Lehrgdnge^ Halle. 
Dahn : Pddagogisches ArcMv^ Osterwieck-Harz. 
Rein : Pddagogische Studien, Dresden. 

Wtchgram : Zeitschrift fiir Ausldndisches UnterricMswesen ^ Leipsic. 
Lyon: Zeitschrift fiir den Deutschen Unterricht^ Leipsic. 
Hoffman : Zeitschrifi fiir Mathematischen und Naturwissenschaftlichen 

Unterricht^ Leipsic. 
KoRTiNG and Koschavitz : Zeitschrift fiir Neufranzosische Sprache und 

Litteratur^ Leipsic. 
BuCHNER : Zeitschrift fiir Weihliche Bildung in Schule und Haus^ 

Leipsic. 
MiJLLER : Zeitschrift fiir das Gymnasialwesen,^ 'Berlin. 
HoLZMiJLLER : Zeitschrift fUr die Lateinlose hohere Schiden, Leipsic. 
Hartel : Zeitschrift fiir die Osterreichischen Gymnasien, Vienna. 

442 



APPENDIX O 443 

Editobs. Titles. 

PosKE : Zeitsclwift fiir den Fhysikalischen und Chemischen Unterrichi^ 

Berlin. 
Flugel and Rein : Zeitschrift fur Philosoj^hie und I*udagogik, Langen- 

salza. 
CzuBER : Zeiischrift fiir das Realschulwesen^ Vienna. 
Seibert : Zeitschrift fiir Schul geographies Vienna. 
KoTELMANN : Zeitsclirift fUr Schulgesundheitspflege, Hamburg, 

Year-Books. 

Rethavisch : Jahresherichte iiber das Hbhere Schulwesen. 

VoGT : Jahrhiicher des Vereins fiir Wissenschaftliche Pddagogik. 

Fleckeisen and Masius : Neue Jahrhiicher fUr Philologie und Pddagogik ^ 

Leipsic, 
Richter : Pddagogischer Jahieshericht, Leipsic. 



INDEX 



Administration, school, develop- 
ment of central control, 86-92 ; 
no imperial system of, 108, 191 ; 
basis of Prussian school laws, 
109 ; Prussian administrative sys- 
tem, 111; department of educa- 
tion, 112 ; provincial school- 
boards, 113; examination com- 
mission, 114; local school-boards, 
116; merits of Prussian system, 
119 ; in other states, 119 ; restric- 
tions on private venture, 135 ; dif- 
ficulties of, due to established 
precedents, 141-143 ; founding of 
new schools, 143 £f. ; rules, regu- 
lations and customs, 156-174 ; 
examinations and privileges, 175- 
193 ; in relation to student life, 
194 ff. ; in relation to school offi- 
cers, 370-387; tendencies of 
school reform, 388-405 ; merits 
and defects of German secondary 
education, 406-422 

Agricola, 20 

Alcuin, 5, 9, 10 

Allgemeine Landrecht, Prussia, 88, 
109 

Altenstein, 101, 102 

Altona Reform School, 251, 400- 
402 

Appointment, of minister of educa- 
tion, 111; of provincial school 



inspectors, 113; of state exami- 
ners, 114; of local school-boards, 
116; of teachers, 370 ff. See 
Teachers 

Architect, duties of supervising, 
146 

Arndt, 79, 91 

Attendance, compulsory school, 
151, 407; table of, in higher 
schools of Prussia, 1830-1895, 
426 

Auditorium of school building, 150 ; 
used on public occasions, 195 ; 
for religious exercises, 157, 164 

Baden, 98, 125, 128, 248, 425, 438 

Basedow, 65 

Bavaria, 98, 124, 126, 127, 128, 249, 
425, 438 

Benedictines, services to church 
and school, 3 

Berlin, Conference of 1890, 105, 
390-398; schools and school ex- 
penses, 154; University of, 
founded, 93 

Bible, and the Reformation, 28 ff. ; 
in German schools, 213 

Boarding-schools, 196-212; clien- 
tele of, 135 

Boards, provincial school, organiza- 
tion and duties of, 113; impor- 
tance of, 119; control of profes- 



445 



446 



INDEX 



sional training of teachers, 3G3 
ff. ; of appointment and promotion 
of teachers, 370 ff. ,• local school, 
116; organization of, 116; pow- 
ers of, 117 

Boniface Romanizes and Christian- 
izes Germany, 3 

Botany, 330, 333 ff. See Sciences 

Buildings, school, 145 ff. See 
Schools 

Bureaucracy, triumph of, 90; Ger- 
man absolutism, 412 

Burschenschaften, 91 

Calendar, Academic, 156 

Charles the Great, first general char- 
ter of education, 5; educational 
progress under, 8; the palace 
school, 9 

Chemistry, 330, 343 ff., 346. See 
Sciences 

Church, influence of, on education, 
1, 16, 88, 406; attitude of, toward 
city schools, 12, 15 ; toward com- 
mon schools, 15 ; and the Refor- 
mation, 23 ff. ; development of a 
territorial, in Germany, 36; and 
state, 89; attendance, 164; and 
religious instruction, 224 

Cities, function of, in creating a 
middle class, 11 ; rapid growth of, 
in modern Germany, 142 

City schools, rise of, 13; adminis- 
tration of, 117; foundation of, 
144 ; for girls, 129-132 ; selection 
of teachers for, 371 

Civic ideals of education, develop- 
ment of, 76 ff. ; as evidenced in 
examination system, 175 ff, ; in 
system of privileges, 189 ; attitude 
of the government, 389 ; service 
of the state, 406-412 ; the German 
point of view, 420 



Civil service, in Prussia, 90 ; condi- 
tions of admission to, 192, 427; 
teachers members of, 352-354; 
oath of office, 372 

Class distinctions, evils of, 420 

Class - master, 380 ; duties of, 
381 

Class rooms, specifications for and 
dimensions of, 145, 146 ; lighting 
of, 147 ; heating of, 148 ; ventila- 
tion of, 148; seating of, 149; 
equipment of, 149. See School 
Buildings 

Classes, in Gymnasium, 122 ; in 
Progymnasium, 124; in Real- 
schules, 127 ; in girls' Gymna- 
sien, 132 

Clergy, low condition of, in the time 
of Charles the Great, 9 ; attitude 
toward secular schools, 12 ; need 
of trained, in Reformation, 28; 
Luther's appeal for schools for, 
31, 34 ; Landesschulen for, in 
Saxony, 38 ; in AViirtemberg, 41 ; 
Jesuits, 47 ; and religious instruc- 
tion, 224 

Co-education, 129, 132. See Women 

Columban, 1 

Comenius, 58, 59, 291, 389 

Compulsory school laws, 151, 407; 
suggested by Luther, 30 ff. See 
Schools 

Conference, Berlin, of December, 
1890, 105, 390-398 

Constitution of Prussia, 88, 109. 
See Allgemeine Landrecht 

Courses of study, in religion, 213 ff. ; 
in German, 227 ff. ; in Greek and 
Latin, 245 ff. ; in modern lan- 
guages, 266 ff. ; in history and 
geography, 291 ff. ; in mathemat- 
ics, 312 ff.; in the natural sciences, 
329 ff. See Curriculum 



INDEX 



447 



Culture studies, employed by early 
humanists, 17-19, 24, 35; at vari- 
ance with aims of the reformers, 
27 ff. ; Sturm's position, 42-44 ; 
influence of French ideals, 51, 
54 ; of pietism and rationalism, 
60 ; return to the Greeks, 71 ff. ; 
modern problems, 95 

Curriculum, of the Prussian Gym- 
nasium, 123 ; comparative table, 

124 ; of Prussian Realgymnasium, 

125 ; comparative table, 126 ; of 
Prussian Oberrealschule, 128 ; of 
Prussian Hohere Miidchenschule, 
131 

Lehrplan of 1816, 97 ; place 

of Greek and Latin in, 247 ; of 
French, 267 ; of history, 293 ; of 
mathematics, 312 ; of sciences, 
330 

Lehrplan of 1837, 247 ; place 



of Greek and Latin in, 247; of 
French, 267 ; of mathematics, 
312 
Lehrplan of 1859, 104 ; prob- 



lem of the Realgymnasium, 393- 
399 
Lehrplan of 1882, 248 ; place 



of Greek and Latin in, 248 ; of 
French, 268, 270 ; of mathemat- 
ics, 312 
Lehrplan of 1892, 248, 249 ; 



place of Greek and Latin in, 248 ; 
of French, 268 ; of other modern 
languages, 289 ; of history, 294 ; 
of mathematics, 312 ; of sciences, 
330 
Customs, rules, regulations and, 
156-174 

Defective Children, administra- 
tion of schools for, 113 
Deventer, 20 



Director, selection of, 376 ; instal- 
lation of, 378; duties of, 378- 
380, 382 ; salaries of, in Prussia, 
429 ; in Bavaria, 433 ; in Saxony, 
434 ; in Wiirtemberg, 436 

Disciplinary studies, 74. See Cult- 
ure Studies 

Discipline, 161-171, 211 

Drinking customs, 165 

Education, history of, in Germany, 
1-107 

Elementary, in Middle Ages, 

15 ; after the Reformation, 28 ff. ; 
in Wiirtemberg, 40; revival of, 
under Humboldt, 92 ; administra- 
tion of, 113 

Secondary, in Middle Ages, 

2 ff. ; church schools, 8 ; human- 
istic schools, 25 ; protestant 
schools, 37-44; schools for no- 
bles, 51 ff. ; Real-schools, 64; re- 
cent reforms in, 86 ff. ; present 
tendencies in, 388-405; merits 
and defects of, 406-422 ; adminis- 
tration of, in Prussia, 108-120; 
higher schools of Prussia, 121- 
137 ; foundation and maintenance 
of higher schools, 138-155 ; rules, 
regulations and customs of, 156- 
174 ; examinations and privileges, 
175-193; student life in higher 
schools, 194-212; methods of in- 
struction in, 213-351; profes- 
sional training of teachers for, 
352-369 ; appointment, promo- 
tion and emoluments of teachers, 
370-387 

Higher, in Middle Ages, 13 ; 



spread of humanism, 24 ; found- 
ing of protestant universities, 36 ; 
decadence of, 50-55 ; founding 
of Halle, 61; work of Humboldt, 



448 



INDEX 



93; university influence on sec- 
ondary education, 114, 355-361, 
406, 413-419 

Einheitsschule, 399 ff. 

Eisleben, 37 

Elective studies, Qo^ 123, 266 £f., 420 

English, instruction in, 266 ff. ; con- 
troversies about, 272; gymnasial 
course of study in, 273, 274; 
Real-school course of study in, 
275-277 ; typical lessons, 278- 
282; direct method, 283-288; 
training of teachers of, 288, 289 

Enlightenment, coincident with 
Frederick the Great, 62 ; motives 
of, 63 ; influence of, on educa- 
tion, 63-75 

Erasmus, 20, 21, 24 

Ernesti, 73 

Examinations, students' final, 88, 
90, 96 ; subjects of final, in Gym- 
nasium, 182 ; in other higher 
schools, 185 ; in six-year schools, 
186 ; in the mid-course, 187 ; ex- 
amining board, 181; privileges 
attached to, 189-193, 427, 428; 
in mathematics, 325 ; in sciences, 
384 

teachers', 97 ; organization 

of commission, 114, 115, 356-358 ; 
development of, 352-355 ; pur- 
pose of, 356 ; subjects of, 357 ; 
conduct of, 359-361 ; grade and 
rank of certificates for, 357, 361, 
362; in professional training, 363, 
364, 368; of directors, 378; re- 
sults, 407, 410 

Feudalism, influence of, on educa- 
tion, 10 
Fichte, 80, 84 
Francke, 63-65, 329 
Franckesche Stiftungen, 134, 368 



Frankfort plan, of shorter courses, 
136, 252, 399, 402 ; Lehrplan, 
Gymnasium and Realgymnasium, 
136 

Frederick the Great, reforms of, 62, 
87 ; on the study of French, 267 ; 
on the study of history, 291-293 ; 
on the training of teachers, 352- 
354 

French, instruction in, 266 ff. ; his- 
torical development of, 266-268 ; 
controversies about, 272 ; gymna- 
sial course of study in, 273, 274 ; 
Real-school course of study in, 
275-277; methods of teaching, 
278 ; typical lessons, 282 ; direct 
method, 283-288; training of 
teachers for, 288, 289 

Frick, 297, 298, 309, 368 

Fries, 368 

Furstenschulen, 38, 39, 196-198 

Gedike, 73, 74, 88, 124, 245, 246 
Geography, 297 ; relation to history, 
298 ; Jena course of study, 298 
ff. ; methods of teaching, 299, 300 
ff. ; correlation with other studies, 
308; criticisms, 309-311 
German, instruction in, 227-244; 
aim of, 227 ; historical develop- 
ment of, 229 ; Prussian course of 
study in, 230, 235, 239; gram- 
mar, 231, 236; literature, 228, 
233, 238, 241 ; composition, 234, 
236, 240; ideals and results of, 
243 
Gesner, 72, 97 

Giessen, University seminar, 367 
Girls, schools for, in Prussia, 129 ; 
in Berlin, 155 ; in Hamburg, 133 ; 
curriculum of, 131; Gymnasien 
for, 132 ; problems of education 
of, 416-420. See Women 



INDEX 



449 



Goethe, 71, 84, 101 

Greek, in the Middle Ages, 9 ; the 
revival of letters, 18, 20, 23, 25 ; 
Luther's attitude toward, 32 ff. ; 
in protestant schools, 37-44 ; and 
the new humanism, 70-75 ; later 
development, 95 ff., 245-249; 
in the curriculum, 98, 99, 101, 
104, 123, 124, 136, 137, 245 
ff. ; instruction in, 245 ff. ; meth- 
ods of teaching, 258 ; text-books, 
264 ; criticisms, 264 

Grimma, 38, 98, 140, 144 

Gymnasium, so-called since the mid- 
dle of the sixteenth century, 39 ; 
official designation, 96 ; object of, 
74, 122 ; original aim of, 138 ; 
some old foundations, 138-140; 
Lehrplan of Prussian, 123 ; com- 
parative curricula of, in Prussia, 
Bavaria, etc., 124; function and 
position of, 124 ; teachers in, offi- 
cers of the state, 110; numbers 
of, and attendance at, 125, 140; 
educational problem of, 397 ff. 
See Altona, Frankfort, Civic 
Ideals, Conference, Curriculum, 
Greek, Latin Kealgymnasium 

Halle, the first modern university, 
61 ; university seminar, 368 

Hardenburg, 77, 78 

Head-masters. See Directors 

Hegel, 84, 100, 101 

Hegius, 20, 23 

Herbart, 99, 292, 302 

Herder, 71, 84, 94, 95 

Hesse, 128, 248, 425, 438 

Higher Schools, definition of, 121 ; 
aim of, 175 ff. ; statistics of, in 
Germany, 425. See Gymnasium, 
Kealgymnasium, Realschulen 

History, instruction in, 291 ff. ; 



Comenius on, 291 ; historical de- 
velopments of, 291 ; Frederick 
the Great on the study of, 291, 
293 ; subject-matter used in in- 
struction, 294 ff. ; Prussian course 
of study in, 295 ; Jena course of 
study in, 299 ff. ; methods of 
teaching, 300 ff. ; correlation with 
other subjects, 308 ; criticisms, 
309-311 

Holidays, 157. See Calendar 

Home study, 158, 160, 315 

Honours attached to the teaching 
profession in Germany, 375 

Humanism, in Germany in the fif- 
teenth century, 20 ; rapid spread 
of, 24, 25, 26 ; influence of, 44 ; 
and Lutheranism, 34, 44 ; Sturm's 
position, 42, 43 ; repression of, 
by counter-Reformation, 47 ; by 
French ideals, 51 ff. ; by Thirty 
Years' War, 52 ; by pietism, 59 ff. ; 
revival of, 69-75; incorporated 
in school curricula, 95 ff. ; ten- 
dencies of school reform, 388-405 

Humboldt, 89, 92-94, 101; on the 
training of teachers, 354 

Hygiene, school, 145-149, 159, 160, 
408 

Idealism, German, 83, 413 
Imperial school commission, 191 
Instruction. See Courses of Study, 
Curriculum 

Jaeger, 264, 396 

Jena, University, founding of, 36 ; 
Gymnasium, 302, 341 ; seminar, 
367 

Jesuits, 47 ff. ; success of, 48, 49 ; 
influence on German school sys- 
tem, 49 ; evidences of the work 
of, 139 



450 



INDEX 



Journals, list of leading education- 
al periodicals of Germany, 442, 
443 

Journeys, school, in Stoy school, 
209-211; excursions, 300, 335, 
341 

Kant, 83, 84 
Kiepert, 297 
Kirchner, 224 
Klinghardt, 272 
Klopstock, 71 
Kuhn, 272 

Laboratories in school buildings, 
150; for science teaching, 339, 
348 

Landesschulen, 38, 39, 196, 198 

Lange, 132 

Latin, in various curricula, 2, 8, 13, 
15, 18, 25, 38, 40, QQ, 74, 96, 98, 
99, 101, 103, 104, 123, 124, 125, 
126, 136, 137, 142; first begins 
to give way to the vernacular, 15 ; 
in the Renaissance period, 19, 23, 
25 ; in the protestant schools, 32, 
33-44 ; reaction against formalism 
in teaching, Q,Q fp. ; recent develop- 
ment of, 99 ff. , 246 ff. ; instruction 
in, 245 ff. ; Prussian course of 
study in Gymnasium, 254 ff. ; 
methods of teaching, 258 fif. ; text- 
books, 264 ; criticisms, 264 ; in 
the Realgymnasium, 249 ; Prus- 
sian course of study in, 254 ff. ; 
educational problems, 393-405 

Lehrfreiheit, beginning of, in Ger- 
many, 61; recent attempts at re- 
striction of, 413-415 

Leibnitz, 56 

Leipsic, University, 14, 2-5, 36, 61, 
133 ; seminar, 367 

Leasing, 71 



Libraries, defects and merits of 
school, 150 ; defects of catalogu- 
ing, 150, 151 ; system throughout 
Germany prevailingly bad, 151 ; 
redeeming features, 151 ; pupils 
may not use public, 166 

Luther, 25 ff. ; insight into educa- 
tional needs in Reformation times 
in Germany, 28 ; on school curric- 
ula, 33 ; on school libraries, 33 ; 
and Melanchthon, 34, 37; on in- 
struction in religion, 213 

Madchenschule, Hohere. See 
Girls' Schools, Women 

Manual training in Stoy scthool, 206 

Marking system, 177, 178 

Mathematics, instruction in, 312- 
328; arithmetic, 314 ff. ; algebra, 
314, 322 ff. ; geometry, 319, 321, 
324 ; course of study in Realgym- 
nasium, 314, 320, 323; Austrian 
methods, 317, 318 ; final exami- 
nations in, 325; criticisms, 326-328 

Meierotto, 73 

Meissen, 38, 98, 140, 144, 197 

Melanchthon, and Erasmus, 23 ; and 
Luther, 34, 37 ; pedagogical ideas 
of, 35 ; as an organizer, 36, 37 

Middle Ages, German education 
during, 1-16 ; ideals of, 17 

Militarism, effects on education, 78, 
121, 161, 162, 200, 212, 383, 411 

Mittelschulen, 130. See Schools 

Mosellanus, 23 

Muff, 262, 264 

Museums, school, for teaching 
sciences, 336 

Music, in mediaeval church schools, 
4, 8, 13 ; in protestant schools, 
37, 38, 40; in teaching patriotism, 
79, 93 ; in school curricula. See 
Curriculum 



INDEX 



451 



Natural History, 330, 333-341. 
See Sciences 

Nature study, 341-343. See Sci- 
ences 

Nuremberg, 25 

Oberrealschule, 104, 105 ; grad- 
uates of, 127 ; Lehrplan, 128 ; 
numbers, 128. See Realschule 

OberschulcoUegium, 87-89. See 
Administration 

Ordinarius, 380. See Class-master 

Paulsen, 23, 37, 74, 394 

Pensions, of teachers, 386 ; compar- 
ative table for all German states, 
438 ; extracts from the general 
pension laws of Prussia, 439, 440 ; 
for widows and orphans of higher 
school teachers, 440 

Periodicals, current educational, of 
Germany, 442, 443 

Pestalozzi, 92, 297 

Pforta. See Schulpforta 

Philanthropinists, 6G 

Philosophy, scholastic, 11; of the 
seventeenth century, 55 ff. ; ra- 
tionalistic, 59 ff. ; German ideal- 
ism, 83, 84 ; the romantic school, 
85 

Physical training in Stoy school, 
207; Turnhalle, 147 

Physics, 343-346. See Sciences 

Pietism, 60, 64 

Play-grounds, 146. See School 
Buildings 

Principal. See Director 

Privileges, system of, 189-193 ; mil- 
itary service, 190 ; university 
study, 192 ; state examinations, 
192 ; tabulated statement of, 427, 
428 ; relation to school reforms, 
397, 404, 415 



Professions, preparation of students 
for, 174. See Privileges 

Program, school. See Calendar, 
Courses of Study, Curriculum 

Progymnasium, 124. See Gymna- 
sium 

Promotion, of pupils, conditions of, 
177, 189 ; of teachers, 370-383 

Protestant schools, rise and charac- 
ter of, 22, 23, 26-45; and the 
counter Reformation, 46, 4'7, 50, 
52-54 ; reaction against, 66 

Priifungscommission,Wissenschaft- 
liche, 114, 115, 352-358. See Ex- 
aminations, Teachers' 

Prussia, development of, 76; con- 
stitution of, 109 ; and War of Lib- 
eration, 77 ; civil and military re- 
forms, 78-82 ; central control in 
school administration, 86-92 ; 
school system of, 108-120 ; high- 
er schools of, 121-137; old 
schools of, 138-142; school-year 
in, 156 ; system of examinations 
and privileges of, 175-193, 427, 
428 ; professional training of 
teachers in, 352-369 ; appoint- 
ment, promotion, and emolu- 
ments of teachers in, 370-387; 
tendencies of school reform in, 
388-405 ; merits and defects of 
secondary education in, 406-422 ; 
attendance in higher schools of, 
426; salary schedules in, 429- 
433 ; extracts from pension laws 
of, 439-441 

Publications, student, 166 

Punishments in schools, 167. See 
Discipline 

QUADRIVIDM, 4 ff. 

Quiehl, 272, 278 
Quintilian, 24 



452 



INDEX 



Rationalism, 59, 62 ff. 

Ratke, 68 

Ratzel, 297 

Realgymnasium, rise of, 64, 104, 
105 ; aim of, 125 ; Lehrplan of 
Prussian, 125 ; comparative cur- 
ricula of, in Prussia, Bavaria, 
etc., 126; position of, 126; simi- 
lar to American high school, 126, 
127 ; number of, in the states of 
Germany, 127 ; attendance, 127 ; 
examinations in, 185 ; Latin in, 
249 ; Prussian Latin course in, 
254-257; modern languages in, 
274 ff. ; mathematics in, 312 ff. ; 
natural sciences in, 345 ff. ; the 
problem of, 393-399, 415 ; priv- 
ileges of, 427, 428 

Realschule, rise of, 64, 65, 104 ; 
aim of, 127 ; Lehrplan of, in 
Prussia, 128; in Wiirtemberg, 128 ; 
numbers in German states, 128; 
examinations in, 186 ; modern 
languages in, 274 ff . ; mathematics 
in, 312 ff. ; natural sciences in, 
345 ff. ; recent growth of, 392 ; 
outlook for, 250, 389, 392, 394, 
415 ; privileges of, 427, 428 ; atti- 
tude of teachers toward, 326, 340 

Reformation, influence of, on edu- 
cation in Germany, 22, 26-45, 
138 ; counter, 47. See Luther 

Reformschule, 251 ff. ; Frankfort 
plan, 399, 402-404 ; Altona, 400- 
402 ; recent growth of, 404 

Rein, 367 

Reinhardt, 262 

Religion, Luther's position, 27-32, 
34, 37, 38, 213 ; supervision of, in 
schools, 115, 164; preferences of 
students, 173 ; instruction in, 213- 
226; teachers of, 214; Prussian 
course of study in, 216-218 ; con- 



firmation, 220 ; subject matter of 
instruction in, 220; text-books, 
221 ; defects of the system of in- 
struction, 223 ff. 

Renaissance, ideals of, 17, 20; in- 
fluence of, 19-22, 24-26, 138 

Reuchlin, 20, 21, 23 

Richter, 262, 298, 367 

Ritter, 297 

Ritterakademie, 52, 54, 56 

Romantic school of philosophy, 85 

Rossleben, 197 

Rules, regulations and customs for 
guidance of students, 156-174 

Salaries, teachers', 154, 384, 385 ; 
oflGlcial schedules of, in Prussia, 
429 ; in Bavaria, 433 ; Saxony, 
434 ; Wiirtemberg, 436 

Saxony, school system of, in 1538, 
37; in 1580, 41; old schools of, 
144, 197, 198 ; teachers' salaries 
in, 434 ; pensions in, 438 

Schiller (Fr.), 71, 84 

Schiller (Prof. H.), 306, 367 

Schlee, 400 

Scholarships, 36, 41, 152, 153 

Scholasticism, influence of, on edu- 
cation, 11 ; tendency toward, in 
seventeenth century, 50 

Schools, boarding, 133, 134, 135, 
140, 196 ff. ; cathedral, 8 ; church, 
133; city, designed for the 
middle classes, 12 ; foundations 
of, 144; status of, 117, 143; clois- 
tral, 41, 98; common, 15; com- 
mercial, 133 ; Einheitsschule, 399 
ff. ; Furstenschule, 38, 39 ; girls', 
129; present status of, 130, 131; 
I Gymnasium, see Gymnasium ; 
j higher, definition of, 121; classi- 
! fication of, 122; aim of, 175 ff. ; 
; attendance upon, in Prussia from 



INDEX 



453 



1830-1895, 426 ; list of privileged, 
425; Hohere Madchenschule, 129- 
131; Jesuit, see Jesuits; Lan- 
desschule, 38, 39 ; Mittelschule, 
130; normal, 113; Oberreal- 
schule, see Oberrealschule ; prot- 
estant, first, 37 ; private, status 
of. 111, 116, 118; Progymnasium, 
124 ; Realgymnasium, see Real- 
gymnasium ; Realschule, see 
Realschule ; Reformschule, see 
Reformschule ; secondary, see 
Education; state, status of, 117; 
ideals of, 389 ; Stoy school, 199 ff. ; 
union (Einheitsschule), 399 ff. ; 
Volksschule, 129 ; destroyed by 
the Thirty Years' War, 54; his- 
tory of secondary, 1-107 ; super- 
vision of, 382 ; ecclesiastical su- 
pervision of, 215 ; first step in 
secularization of, 88 ; administra- 
tive system of, 111 ; maintenance 
of, 153 ; expense of maintenance 
in Prussia, 153; inter-relations, 
135 ; punishments, 167 ; regula- 
tions of a typical school, 168 ff. ; 
some old, 138, 139, 140; confes- 
sional character of, 214; reform 
of, 388 ff. ; conference of De- 
cember, 1890, 105, 390 
School system, of Saxony, 37, 38, 
41 ; complete, first organized in 
Wiirtemberg, 40 ; centralization 
of, 86-96 ; not imperial in Ger- 
many, 108 ; and the state, 99, 
105, 106, 109, 110, 406-412 ; a 
product of German ideals, 107, 
406-412; the Prussian, 108-120; 
merits of the Prussian, 119; in 
the smaller German states, 119; 
sources of chief defects of, 412; 
expense of maintenance in Prus- 
sia, 153 ; in Berlin, 154, 155 



School buildings, construction and 
equipment of, 145, 146; location 
of, 146; lighting of, 147; ventila- 
tion of, 148 ; heating of, 148 ; 
seating of, 149 ; general equip- 
ment of, 149 ; equipment of, for 
teaching sciences, 331 ; auditori- 
um of, 150 ; hygienic precautions, 
408 

School laws, not codified in Prussia, 
108 ; basis of, 109 ; rule of prec- 
edent binding, 111 ff. ; compul- 
sory, 407 

School year, 156 

Schulpforta, 38, 95, 98, 140, 144, 
197, 198 

Schulze, 99, 247 

Sciences, development of, and influ- 
ence on educational ideals, 56, 57, 
63-66, 102-105; instruction in, 
329 ff. ; historical development of, 
329, 330 ; chief aim, 330 ; equip- 
ment for teaching, 331; Prussian 
course of study — natural history, 
333; physics and chemistry, 343 
ff, ; school museums, 336 ; meth- 
ods of teaching, 337-339 ; labora- 
tory work, 339, 348 ; nature study, 
341-343 ; final examinations, 348, 
349 ; recent tendencies, 351 

Secondary education schools. See 
Education 

Seminars, pedagogical, early foun- 
dations, 97; state, 365; gymna- 
sial, 365 ; university, 367 

Sessions, daily, 157. See Calendar 

Sievers, 297 

Social rank, of students, 172 ; of 
teachers, 326, 340, 375; results, 
420 

State, control of school system, 86- 
96, 108-120, 409 ; influence on 
education, 406, 407-412 ; and 



454 



INDEX 



compulsory school laws, 407 ; 
and hygienic precautions, 408 ; 
and uniform curricula, 409 ; and 
teaching profession, 410 

Stein, 77, 78, 89, 90, 93, 354 

Stoy school, 199 ; regulations of, 
200 ; student life in, 202-212 

Students, rules, regulations and 
customs, 156-174 ; non-resident, 
163 ; social rank of, 172 ; condi- 
tions of promotion of, 177 ; ex- 
amination of, 178-189 ; life in 
higher schools, 194 ff. ; public ex- 
ercises, 195 ; privileges attached 
to completion of various grades of 
higher schools, 189-193, 427, 428 

Studies. See Courses, Curriculum 

Study, home, 158, 160, 315 

Sturm, 42, 43, 141, 389 

Suicides among school children in 
Germany, 147 

Superintendent. See Director 

Supervision. See Administration 

Silvern, 96 

Teachers, training of professional, 
97, 352-369 ; university study for, 
355 ; state examinations, 356 ; 
examination commission, 358 ; 
conduct of examinations, 360 ; 
subjects for examinations, 357 ; 
certification of, 95, 114, 115, 357, 
361, 362 ; university degrees, 358 ; 
trial teaching, 97, 98, 364, 368; 
seminar year, 364 ; present re- 
quirements, 364 ; Prussian semi- 
nars, 365; university courses, 367, 
368 ; religious training, 215 ; of 
religion, duties of, 215 ; general 
duties of teachers, 381, 382; 
women as, 130, see Women ; ten- 
ure of office, defects, 383 ; officers 
of state, 161, 162 ; professional 



strength of, 411 ; appointment of, 
114, 118, 370 fle. ; in royal schools, 
371 ; in city schools, 371 ; oath 
of office, 372 ; waiting period, 
373 ; salaries, 384 ; salary sched- 
ules in Prussia, 429 ; Bavaria, 
433 ; Saxony, 434 ; Wiirtemberg, 
436 ; travelling stipends, 386 ; 
honours, 375 ; pensions, 118, 386 ; 
comparative table of pensions for 
the German states, 438 ; for wid- 
ows and orphans, 440 ; pension 
laws of Prussia, 439-441 

Teaching, freedom of, 61, 413-415; 
methods of. See Religion, Greek, 
Latin, etc. 

Tenure of office of teachers, 383, 
386, 407, 410 

Text-books, for protestant schools, 
35; control of, 113, 114; nature 
of, in religion, 221 ; in German, 
231, 233 ; in Greek and Latin, 
264 ; in French and English, 274, 
288 ; in history, 307 ; in mathe- 
matics, 321, 322 ; in sciences, 346 

Thiersch, 98 

Thirty Years' War, evil conse- 
quences of, 52, 53, 54 

Thomasius, 61, 68 

Thurber, 398 

Travelling stipends for teachers, 
386 

Trial year of teaching, 97, 98, 364, 
368 

Trivium, 4 ff. 

Trustees, powers of school, 117 

Tuition, in royal secondary schools, 
151, 152 ; in city schools, 152 

Turnhalle, 147 

Uhlig, 396 

Universities, founding of Paris, 13 ; 
founding of, in Germany, 14; 



INDEX 



455 



protestant, 36 ; decadence of, in 
the seventeenth century, 55 ; 
founding of Berlin, 93 ; influence 
on secondary education, 406, 413- 
416 ; idealism of, 413 ; struggle 
between the state and, 413 ; Lehr- 
freiheit in, 414 ; defects of, 415 
ff. ; foster gymnasial monopoly, 
415 ; oppose admission of women, 
416 ; Giessen seminar, 367 ; 
Halle, 61, 368 ; Jena, seminar, 
367 ; Leipsic, seminar, 367 

Vacations, 156 
Victor, 271, 272, 273 
Volksschulen, 15, 33, 40, 54, 64, 92, 
129 

Waetzoldt, 272, 417 
Walter, 272, 280, 282, 283, 284 
War of Liberation — Humboldt, 

Arndt, Fichte, 77; effects of, 

81 ff. 
Weimar, 95, 314, 323 
Wernekke, 314 
William II., views on educational 

matters, 105, 143, 389, 392 



Wimpheling, 20, 23 

Windscheid, 132 

Wittenberg, 25 

AVittich, 313 

Wolf, 74, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 99, 101, 
245, 292 

Wolff, 61, 68 

Women, teachers' association of, 
129 ; as teachers, 130 ; higher 
education of, 416-420 ; admission 
to universities, 416; admission to 
professions, 419 ; attitude of 
Prussian state toward education 
of, 419. See Girls' Schools 

Wiirtemberg, school system of, first 
complete, 40 ; school curricula, 
98, 124-128, 249 ; schools of, 
425 ; teachers' salaries in, 436, 
437 ; teachers' pensions in, 438 

Year-books, educational, in Ger- 
many, 443 

Zedlitz, 73, 87, 88, 293 

Zeller, 92 

Ziegler, 395, 411 

Zoology, 330, 333 ff. See Sciences 



3477 



